The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association has announced the winners of its 2023 Poetry Contest.

The 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])

This year’s Speculative Poetry Contest judge, Michael Arnzen, selected the winning pieces and honorable mentions from a pool of more than 460 anonymized entries.

LONG CATEGORY

WINNER

• METAMORFISH – Randall Andrews

Second Place

• NIGHTMARE IN BLUE – Kurt Newton

Third Place

• WAKE UNTO DEATH – Lori R. Lopez

SHORT CATEGORY

WINNER

• ABRAHAM LINCOLN ADDRESSES THE NATION BEFORE HE IS EXECUTED BY INTERSTELLAR INVADERS – Kate Boyes

Second Place

• EMBRYO WAREHOUSE – Amber Winter and Joshua St. Claire

Third Place

• A JAR OF CHERRIES – Jay Caselberg

DWARF CATEGORY

WINNER

• CALCINATION – Colleen Anderson

Second Place

• WHAT GHOSTS DIDN’T DO – Mary Soon Lee

Third Place

• OPEN WINDOW – Michael Nickels-Wisdom

HONORABLE MENTIONS. Honorable mentions in the 2023 Speculative Poetry Contest go to poems by fifteen authors which are listed here.

PRIZES. The winners will receive a $150 First Prize, $75 Second Prize, and $25 Third Prize in each category. Read the nine prizewinning poems (three in each length category) alongside the judge’s comments here.

[Based on a press release.]