2022 SFPA Poetry Contest Winners

The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association has announced the winners of its 2022 Poetry Contest.

This year’s contest offered prizes in three divisions:

  • Dwarf (poems 1-10 lines [prose poems 0-100 words])
  • Short (11-49 lines [prose poems 101-499 words])
  • Long (50 lines and more [prose poems 500+ words])

Contest chair Brittany Hause received 352 entries (119 dwarf-length, 176 short, and 57 long poems) from around the world.

This year’s Speculative Poetry Contest judge, David Kirby, selected the winning pieces and honorable mentions. The winners will receive a $150 First Prize, $75 Second Prize, and $25 Third Prize in each category, as well as publication on sfpoetry.com

LONG CATEGORY

WINNER

  • T. D. Walker “The Hologram Princess on the Moon Considers the Pillars Surrounding Her”

Second Prize

  • F. J. Bergmann — “Photographing Sirens”

Third Prize

  • Alex Jennings “Ivory Coast”

SHORT CATEGORY

Winner

  • Shannon Connor Winward “Near the end, your mother tells you she’s been seeing someone”

Second Prize

  • Scott Thomas “Angelo Was Right”

Third Prize

  • Karen Paul Holmes “Brünnhilde Speaks”

DWARF CATEGORY

Winner

  • F. J. Bergmann “Tranche”

Second Prize

  • M.J. Towers “Terminal”

Third Prize

  • Susan Burch — [hoping one day]

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Dwarf Form Honorable Mentions:

  • Aphorism by Timons Esaias 
  • Can You Believe by S. T. Eleu
  • [Cellphones out at dinner] by Nicholas Batura 
  • Getting Lucky by F. J. Bergmann
  • It Wasn’t As If … by Anna Cates
  • Poker Night by Michael McCormick

Short Form Honorable Mentions

  • All the space we have left by Marisca Pichette
  • Bayes’ Theorem As Applied to the Fermi Paradox by F. J. Bergmann
  • Captain Kirk (38 Years After the Shuttle Crash) by Scott Thomas
  • Harry Potter en Français by Sarah A. Carleton 
  • Kim’s houseboat in the sky is broken by Jenny Blackford

Long Form Honorable Mentions

  • Haunted Algorithm by Lauren Scharhag 
  • The Weavers by Colleen Anderson
  • Xibirisms by Datorien Anderson