PSI Members-Only Annual Spring Fling Poetry Contest
2024 and Prior
Each year as part of our Spring Fling event, we offer our paid members the opportunity to compete in a member's only poetry contest. The winners are announced during our annual Spring Fling event. The contest is judged by PSI's Premier Poet. Below are recaps and lists of the previous years and the winners of this unique, member's only, contest.
2024 Spring Fling Member's Only Poetry Contest Winners:
springflingwinners.docx
2023 Spring Fling Member's Only Poetry Contest:
PSI Premier Poet Jenny Kalahar announced the winners:
Nancy Simmonds, 1st place for Cold Memories.
Sarah E. Morin, 2nd place for The Maple.
Rachel Wright, 3rd place for The Rock House.
Michael E. (Maik) Strosahl, 1st honorable mention for The Midnight Rise.
David Allen, 2nd honorable mention for I Can't Go In There.
Jenquia D. Jamison, 3rd honorable mention for A Disheartened Void.
Thanks to all PSI Members who entered the contest!
2022 Spring Fling Member's Only Poetry Contest:
Sarah E. Morin was our Premier Poet in 2022 and judged the Spring Fling Member's Only Poetry Contest. This contest was unique because it was an ekphrastic contest. Ekphrastic poems explore, engage with, and describe a painting, drawing, sculpture, or other form of visual art.
Nancy Simmonds was the winner, and her piece was selected to inspire our members. She won $25 and her work was published in the following edition of Ink to Paper.
springflingwinners.docx
2023 Spring Fling Member's Only Poetry Contest:
PSI Premier Poet Jenny Kalahar announced the winners:
Nancy Simmonds, 1st place for Cold Memories.
Sarah E. Morin, 2nd place for The Maple.
Rachel Wright, 3rd place for The Rock House.
Michael E. (Maik) Strosahl, 1st honorable mention for The Midnight Rise.
David Allen, 2nd honorable mention for I Can't Go In There.
Jenquia D. Jamison, 3rd honorable mention for A Disheartened Void.
Thanks to all PSI Members who entered the contest!
2022 Spring Fling Member's Only Poetry Contest:
Sarah E. Morin was our Premier Poet in 2022 and judged the Spring Fling Member's Only Poetry Contest. This contest was unique because it was an ekphrastic contest. Ekphrastic poems explore, engage with, and describe a painting, drawing, sculpture, or other form of visual art.
Nancy Simmonds was the winner, and her piece was selected to inspire our members. She won $25 and her work was published in the following edition of Ink to Paper.
Congratulations to the winners of the poetry portion of the Member's Only contest:
1st Place - Alys Caviness-Gober (Fake News)
2nd Place - Mary A. Couch (Collage of Life)
3rd Place - Collaborative Poem by JAC, B. Monét & Z. Rose (Stuck)
HM1 - Rachel Wright (Alice)
HM2 - Morgan Galvan (Hunger for Adventure)
HM3 - Joe Ottinger (A Classic Lady)
Read the first two winning poems in full, below.
All submissions were ekphrastic poems in response to Nancy Simmonds's image, D'une Femme au Chapeau.
First, second, and third place poems were published in Ink to Paper, along with Nancy's winning image.
Many excellent images and poems were submitted. CONGRATS to the winners!
First place, Alys Caviness-Gober
Fake News
Tissue-paper page from a spidery-handwritten journal
crinkles softly like a warm Summer breeze
scented by my garden’s parfum –
an extrait concentré infused by mushrooms and roses –
dabbled together with dulled remnants
of ancient yet ageless textiles
mingling with a sketch of an old camera
and obligatory typeset pithy feminista phrase
complementing a sepia photograph –
a soaring chapeau riddled with daisies
and a flamboyant ribbon (with a life of its own),
and worn by a woman with a Mona Lisa smile
that hints at the joke of it all,
as if she knows it’s a put-up job, fake news,
a Pinterest collage of contemporary scrappings
fabricated to craft a harmonious tale
as if from times of yore and faraway places,
echoing like a warm Summer breeze
drifting around on stickers of butterfly wings,
but those IKEA pillows give it away
before the punchline.
2nd place, Mary A. Couch
Collage of Life
That poster-board upon the wall
menagerie remains which sing
her collage tale to one and all
From birth to death, a bouncing ball,
each piece a butterfly with wing
that poster-board upon the wall
A ticket, and some cloth quite small
along with photo of her fling
her collage tale to one and all
It shows the journey of her fall
to rags from richest golden bling
that poster-board upon the wall
The deeds she did before the pall
shroud her, and left this memory thing
her collage tale to one and all
To those now left who get the call
remembrance is all it will bring
that poster-board upon the wall
her collage tale to one and all
1st Place - Alys Caviness-Gober (Fake News)
2nd Place - Mary A. Couch (Collage of Life)
3rd Place - Collaborative Poem by JAC, B. Monét & Z. Rose (Stuck)
HM1 - Rachel Wright (Alice)
HM2 - Morgan Galvan (Hunger for Adventure)
HM3 - Joe Ottinger (A Classic Lady)
Read the first two winning poems in full, below.
All submissions were ekphrastic poems in response to Nancy Simmonds's image, D'une Femme au Chapeau.
First, second, and third place poems were published in Ink to Paper, along with Nancy's winning image.
Many excellent images and poems were submitted. CONGRATS to the winners!
First place, Alys Caviness-Gober
Fake News
Tissue-paper page from a spidery-handwritten journal
crinkles softly like a warm Summer breeze
scented by my garden’s parfum –
an extrait concentré infused by mushrooms and roses –
dabbled together with dulled remnants
of ancient yet ageless textiles
mingling with a sketch of an old camera
and obligatory typeset pithy feminista phrase
complementing a sepia photograph –
a soaring chapeau riddled with daisies
and a flamboyant ribbon (with a life of its own),
and worn by a woman with a Mona Lisa smile
that hints at the joke of it all,
as if she knows it’s a put-up job, fake news,
a Pinterest collage of contemporary scrappings
fabricated to craft a harmonious tale
as if from times of yore and faraway places,
echoing like a warm Summer breeze
drifting around on stickers of butterfly wings,
but those IKEA pillows give it away
before the punchline.
2nd place, Mary A. Couch
Collage of Life
That poster-board upon the wall
menagerie remains which sing
her collage tale to one and all
From birth to death, a bouncing ball,
each piece a butterfly with wing
that poster-board upon the wall
A ticket, and some cloth quite small
along with photo of her fling
her collage tale to one and all
It shows the journey of her fall
to rags from richest golden bling
that poster-board upon the wall
The deeds she did before the pall
shroud her, and left this memory thing
her collage tale to one and all
To those now left who get the call
remembrance is all it will bring
that poster-board upon the wall
her collage tale to one and all
The 2021 Spring Fling Members-Only Poetry Contest winners were:
First Place Poem: Gail Denham, Mama's Voice
Second Place Poem: Linda Eaton, Recollection
Third Place Poem: Rachel Wright, Interval
Honorable Mention 1: Jenquia Jamison, Here
Honorable Mention 2: Mary Couch, Serenity's Home
Honorable Mention 3: Beverly Stanislawski, Quietude
The theme was ekphrastic poetry and included a PSI Members-only artwork competition, the winning piece (below) was used by our PSI Members for their Spring Fling poetry contest entries.
Ekphrastic poems explore, engage with, and describe a painting, drawing, sculpture, or other form of visual art. 2021 was the first year we've asked our PSI members to submit artwork images to be considered as inspiration for our annual Spring Fling poetry contest. We received 12 entries from our talented members! The winning piece of artwork for the Ekphrastic inspiration for our PSI members is the photograph titled Serenity by Sandra J. Nantais.
First Place Poem: Gail Denham, Mama's Voice
Second Place Poem: Linda Eaton, Recollection
Third Place Poem: Rachel Wright, Interval
Honorable Mention 1: Jenquia Jamison, Here
Honorable Mention 2: Mary Couch, Serenity's Home
Honorable Mention 3: Beverly Stanislawski, Quietude
The theme was ekphrastic poetry and included a PSI Members-only artwork competition, the winning piece (below) was used by our PSI Members for their Spring Fling poetry contest entries.
Ekphrastic poems explore, engage with, and describe a painting, drawing, sculpture, or other form of visual art. 2021 was the first year we've asked our PSI members to submit artwork images to be considered as inspiration for our annual Spring Fling poetry contest. We received 12 entries from our talented members! The winning piece of artwork for the Ekphrastic inspiration for our PSI members is the photograph titled Serenity by Sandra J. Nantais.
Our 2020 Spring Fling was a virtual event, and the member's only contest was judged by Sarah E. Morin, the Premier Poet. The contest challenged members to write a Golden Shovel using a line from William Wordsworth's "Daffodils". All judging was blind.
Winners:
1st Deborah Peterson, "You, Young Daughter"
2nd Dennis White, "Gossamer Dreams"
3rd George Wylie, "Daffodils"
1st Honorable Mention Beverly Stanislawski, "Cloud Dreams"
2nd Honorable Mention Joyce Zephyrin, "Expanding Joy"
3rd Honorable Mention Joe Ottinger, "Maidens of Spring"
2019 Spring Fling Contest Winners:
1st-Mary Cough, "Indiana Spring or Mother Nature's Joke"
2nd-Alexandria Moss Zannis, "A Preference of Bedding"
3rd-Ann W Borger, "Indiana Spring"
1st Honorable Mention-David Allen, "Indiana Spring"
2nd Honorable Mention-Alys Caviness-Gober, "Indiana Spring"
3rd Honorable Mention-Dennis L. White, "Spring in the Crossroads"
Winners:
1st Deborah Peterson, "You, Young Daughter"
2nd Dennis White, "Gossamer Dreams"
3rd George Wylie, "Daffodils"
1st Honorable Mention Beverly Stanislawski, "Cloud Dreams"
2nd Honorable Mention Joyce Zephyrin, "Expanding Joy"
3rd Honorable Mention Joe Ottinger, "Maidens of Spring"
2019 Spring Fling Contest Winners:
1st-Mary Cough, "Indiana Spring or Mother Nature's Joke"
2nd-Alexandria Moss Zannis, "A Preference of Bedding"
3rd-Ann W Borger, "Indiana Spring"
1st Honorable Mention-David Allen, "Indiana Spring"
2nd Honorable Mention-Alys Caviness-Gober, "Indiana Spring"
3rd Honorable Mention-Dennis L. White, "Spring in the Crossroads"
2016 Spring Fling was titled, "Gemstones of Poetry and History". N.I. POETS hosted a lovely Spring Meet on May 14, 2016 at Fox Island County Park in Fort Wayne, IN. Poets from around the state gathered to elect officers, take workshops, learn about our state's history for Indiana's Bicentennial, and mainly, be inspired by each other's company and art.
