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