THE WILLOW RUN POETRY BOOK AWARD
Winner of the 2020 Willow Run Poetry Book Award, João Luís Guimarães
The winner of the 2020 cycle of The Willow Run Poetry Book Award is João Luís Guimarães, Porto, Portugal, for his beautiful collection, Mediterranean.
The list of the semi-finalists and finalists of the 2020 Willow Run Poetry Book Award are listed below. The next round of submissions for the Willow Run Award deadlines February 20, 2021. The guidelines for the Willow Run Award can be found here.
We would like to sincerely thank everyone who submitted their work to us. We have been humbled by the remarkable work that we are receiving. Poets from all over the U.S. and Canada, from the U.K, from Japan, India, China. It makes our work harder, but certainly offers much pleasure in reading. Be sure to follow our blog for updates on all events, on our award winners, our book publications and other activities.
The 2020 Willow Run Poetry Book Award
Semi-finalists
Appel, Jacob, New York, New York, Escape from Suburbia: Poems
Bensussen, Henri, Santa Rosa, California, Ripped Seams/Threads of Hope
Chance, Jane, Houston, Texas, Pancho-Girl
Colburn, Don, Portland, Oregon, Purchase
Cole, Catherine, Liverpool, UK, 50 Aphorisms for a War
Cooperman, Robert, Denver, Colorado, A Nightmare on Horseback
Coppola, Emma, Johannesburg, South Africa, cacti as company
Davison, Steven, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Fire in the Earth
Dennerstein, Natasha, Oakland, California, The Lightning-Struck Tower
DiMaggio, Gail, Concord, New Hampshire, Landscape with Woman Turning
Erzinger, T.A.K., ZH Switzerland, At the Foot of the Mountain
Fulton, Julia, La Jolla, California, As Orchids in the Hothouse Bloom
Garten, Bill, Hudson, Ohio, We Have to Stop Here
Glenn, Laura, Ithaca, New York, Something Like That
Guimarães, João Luís, Porto, Portugal, Mediterranean
Hamby, James, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Fallible Aesthetics
Heath, William, Frederick, Maryland, Steel Valley Elegy
Heath, William, Frederick, Maryland, Prospecting
Henry, DeWitt, Watertown, Massachusetts, Restless for Words: Poems
Herz, Robert, Syracuse, New York, Everyone is Leaving the Old Neighborhood
Heung, Aidan, Shanghai, China, out of time
Hopes, David, Asheville, North Carolina, Before the Flight
Lamson, Brandon, Houston, Texas, Mountains Walking
Landau, Lee, Brandenton, Florida, The Distance Between Us
Lass, Egon, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Glimpses Into A Dark Salon
Lentfer, Jennifer, Washington, D.C., The Sky is Green
Lerner, Michelle, Flanders, New Jersey, Autopsy
Lipschultz, Geri, Huntington Station, New York, Poesies & Other Brutalities
Lund, Christine, Santa Fe, New Mexico, The Goddess Ship
Makofske, Mary, Warwick, New York, No Angels
Maher, Adrienne, Livonia, New York, Driving the Dark
Madon, Zubin, Chennai, TN, India, Four Feet Together
McMaster, Arthur, Greenville, South Carolina, The Whole Picture Show
Menon, Tara, Lexington, Massachusetts, Silhouettes of Surprise
Meyer, David, Oak Park, Illinois, The Lotus War: Never in Country
Mink, Chris, Austin, Texas, Warnings in the Curve of the Land
Moeira, N.F., Northampton, Massachusetts, Unearthscapes
Morrison, Andrew, San Antonio, Texas, Going West
Moss, Glenn, New York, New York, American Journey
Nac, Ana, Oxfordshire, UK, We Fall
Phillips, Catharine, Roselle, Illinois, Borderless Love
Rieves, Dwaine, Washington, D.C., Red Camaro
Schloss, David, Cincinnati, Ohio, Provocations
Scrupe, Mara Adamitz, New Canton, Virginia, Lazarus Weed Belief
Silverman, Stuart, Hot Springs, Arkansas, Drifters
Silvestri, Dianne, Natick, Massachusetts, Tackled
Studer, Constance, Louisville, Colorado, Heart Shift
Toskar, Stephen, Hokkaido, Japan, The First Lies the Heart Tells
Velie, Dianalee, Newbury, New Hampshire, Italian Lesson
Ward, Charlotte, Malibu, California, A Natural Path
Westley, Richard, Kennebunk, Maine, Halo Effect
Williams, Christie Max, Mystic, Connecticut, All But Immortal
Finalists
Appel, Jacob, New York, New York, Escape from Suburbia: Poems
Erzinger, T.A.K., ZH Switzerland, At the Foot of the Mountain
Guimarães, João Luís, Porto, Portugal, Mediterranean
Henry, DeWitt, Watertown, Massachusetts, Restless for Words: Poems
Herz, Robert, Syracuse, New York, Everyone is Leaving the Old Neighborhood
Heung, Aidan, Shanghai, China, out of time
Lass, Egon, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Glimpses Into A Dark Salon
Madon, Zubin, Chennai, TN, India, Four Feet Together
Menon, Tara, Lexington, Massachusetts, Silhouettes of Surprise
Westley, Richard, Kennebunk, Maine, Halo Effect
Winner
Guimarães, João Luís, Porto, Portugal, Mediterranean
The 2019 Willow Run Poetry Book Award
Semi-finalists
Aida, Ai, Albany, CA, From Here to Hear
Arrindell, Daemond, Seattle, WA, When the Music Box Won’t Open
Ashman, Lewis, Kettering, OH, A Residual Grammar
Bass, Greg, Pleasant Prairie, WI, Otherwise Looking Back
Bentley, Roy, Pataskala, OH, Hillbilly Guilt
Brown, Andrea, Los Angeles, American Fraktur
Brown, Marion, Bronxville, NY, Night at the Nomad Hotel
Buckholts, Claudia, Somerville, MA, Travelers on Earth
Buker, Russell, Calais, ME, India Poems from here
Chawla, Nishi, Potomac, MD, From: Immigrant Diaries
Clements, Nina, Madison, WI, Our Mother of Sorrows
Cooperman, Robert, Denver, CO, Plowmen of the Earth
Conroy, Flower, Key West, FL, You Can’t Keep Killing Yourself & Not Expect to Die
Ferleger, Doris, Wyncote, PA, As For The Kiss
Ferrara, Gina, New Orleans, LA, Weight of the Ripened
Fisher, Hazel, Saylorsburg, PA, Tea is not the Same
Flores, Michelle, Jacksonville, FL, Invasive Species
Fogel, Alice B., Walpole, NH, Nothing But
Gordon, Sarah, Athens, GA, The Lost Thing and Other Poems
Greenhause, Jonathan, Jersey City, NJ, Our Spilt Blood at the Borders
Griego, Anna, Albuquerque, NM, Illuminated
Haddad, Amy, Omaha, NE, An Otherwise Healthy Woman
Harris, Lyall, Charlottesville, VA, Barrier Island
Heath, William, Frederick, MD, Steel Valley Elegy
Itzin, Charles, Fair Haven, NY, Leaving (Instructions from the saints)
Jampole, Marc, NYC, NY, A History of the World in 52 Poems
Kelsey, Candice, Los Angeles, CA, Still I am Pushing [ ]
Kessler, Ruth, NYC, NY, The Country of Elsewhere
Knox, Robert, Quincy, MA, This Tree
Kroms, Vera, Brighton, MA, Alice in Darkness
Langstroth, Gail, Pittsburgh, PA, no holywhite
Levchev, Vladimir, Sofia, Bulgaria, Love in the Square
Lick, Sue Fagalde, South Beach, OR, Scotch Tape and Paper Clips
Looney, George, Erie, PA, Ode to the Earth in Translation
Machen, Katharyn, Ithaca, NY, Fox
McFarland, Ron, Moscow, ID, a variable sense of things
Meyer, David, Oak Park, IL, Obsessions
Mian, Hinnah, Charleston, WV, To Build a Home
Mitchell-Foust, Michelle, Eugene, OR, Riddle Field
Moss, Glenn, NYC, NY, Journeys
Myers, Jed, Seattle, WA, Burning Man
Nohrnberg, Peter, Cambridge, MA, Distant Objects
Nyhart, Al, White Sulpher Springs, MT, The Man Himself
Painter, Holly, South Burlington, VT, They tell me I am wicked and I believe them
Papczun, Kristy Ulrich, Chicago, IL, Remembering My Father
Paris, Christopher, Center Barnstead, NH, We
Parsons, Mark, Tokyo, Japan, Lessons from Post-Revolution Melodrama
Rancourt, Suzanne, Hadley, NY, Old Stones, New Roads
Reardon, Patick, Chicago, IL, 19 poems about my brother
Reyburn, Brian, Pittsburgh, PA One Hundred or so Sonnets
Scrupe, Mara Adamitz, Philadelphia, PA, How to Use Animal Bones for Survival
Spencer, Jane, Naples, FL, Poetic Nature
Stedronsky, Carole, Davis, CA, Dear Sally
Stepakoff, Shanee, Farmington, ME, Testimony: Found Poems from the Special Court…
Stone, Diane, Clinton, WA, On the Road to Here and Now
Stone, Ellen, Ann Arbor, MI, What is in the blood
Sumerau, Jason, Orlando, FL, Hold. The Trappings of Entrapment
Sumners, Pamela, St. Louis, MO, God’s Math
Sweeder, John, Ocean City, NJ, Untethered Balloons: Poems
Tighe, Betsy, Portland, OR, Pillow Talk
Toskar, Stephen, Hokkaido, Japan, The Taste of Prayer – Fragments of a Life
Tracy, Dillon, Champaign, IL, The Polar Vortex Winters
Walsh, Timothy, Madison, WI, Bicycling to Nowhere
White, Sharon, Philadelphia, PA, Everything is Liquid
Wyatt, Charles, Nashville, TN, The Spider’s Web
Wynn, Pamela, New Brighton, MA, Seahorse Tattoed on the Small of Her Back
Wyshynski, James, Marietta, GA, Romancing Akhmatova
Finalists
Aida, Ai, Albany, CA, From Here to Hear
Bentley, Roy, Pataskala, OH, Hillbilly Guilt
Brown, Andrea, Los Angeles, American Fraktur
Buckholts, Claudia, Somerville, MA, Travelers on Earth
Conroy, Flower, Key West, FL, You Can’t Keep Killing Yourself & Not Expect to Die
Ferleger, Doris, Wyncote, PA, As For The Kiss
Fisher, Hazel, Saylorsburg, PA, Tea is not the Same
Gordon, Sarah, Athens, GA, The Lost Thing and Other Poems
Heath, William, Frederick, MD, Steel Valley Elegy
Kessler, Ruth, NYC, NY, The Country of Elsewhere
Knox, Robert, Quincy, MA, This Tree
Kroms, Vera, Brighton, MA, Alice in Darkness
Levchev, Vladimir, Sofia, Bulgaria, Love in the Square
Looney, George, Erie, PA, Ode to the Earth in Translation
Machen, Katharyn, Ithaca, NY, Fox
Nyhart, Al, White Sulpher Springs, MT, The Man Himself
Papczun, Kristy Ulrich, Chicago, IL, Remembering My Father
Reardon, Patick, Chicago, IL, 19 poems about my brother
Spencer, Jane, Naples, FL, Poetic Nature
Stedronsky, Carole, Davis, CA, Dear Sally
Stepakoff, Shanee, Farmington, ME, Testimony: Found Poems from the Special Court…
Sumerau, Jason, Orlando, FL, Hold. The Trappings of Entrapment
Sweeder, John, Ocean City, NJ, Untethered Balloons: Poems
White, Sharon, Philadelphia, PA, Everything is Liquid
Wyatt, Charles, Nashville, TN, The Spider’s Web
Wyshynski, James, Marietta, GA, Romancing Akhmatova
Winner
Bentley, Roy, Pataskala, OH, Hillbilly Guilt
Congratulations to everyone, and again, thank you so much for your faith in us; we are honored by your submissions and the sharing of your work.
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The 2018 Willow Run Poetry Book Award
Our winner is Carol Tyx, for her wonderful poetry collection about a prisoner uprising at the Angola Prison (more detail coming about Carol and her work shortly!), Remaking Achilles: Slicing Into Angola’s History
We want to congratulate Carol, who will receive $1,000 in prize money, and whose winning manuscript will be published by Hidden River Press, an imprint of Hidden River Publishing.
We also want to thank all our poets, who entrusted us with their work. You are all making remarkable, magical creative work, and our world is a better place because of it!
Semi-finalists
Allbritain, Deborah, San Diego, California, The Bluff at Road’s End
Andrea, Jennifer, El Cerrito, California, Keşke
Bowers, John, Ithaca, New York, Generation
Caplin, Abby, San Fransisco, California, It’s a Wet Rich Poor Sick Beautiful World
DeNicola, Deborah, Margate, Florida, The Lure
Dewoody, Dale, Shawnee, Oklahoma, Highway Mirage
Ducker, Bruce, Denver, Colorado, Some Friends of Mine
Emerson, C.W., Los Angeles, California, Luminous Body, Glittering Ash
Evans, Anna, Richmond, Virginia, Between What Disappeared
Fleming, Deborah, Perrysville, Ohio, Earthrise
Greenhause, Jonathan, Jersey City, New Jersey, “Our Problem, too, Bear”
Griffin, Shaun, Virginia City, Nevada, The Monastery of Stars
Heath, William, Frederick, Maryland, Walkabout
Hettich, Michael, Black Mountain, North Carolina, To Start An Orchard
Jang, Deborah, Denver, Colorado, Float True
Kumar, Lavinia, Plainsboro, New Jersey, Corresponding with the Otherworld
Lanza, Carmela, Gallup, New Mexico, I Had Left Even Their Spirits Behind Me
Machan, Katharyn, Ithaca, New York, Fox
Mackey, Matthew, Aurora, Colorado, The Moon and Nothing Else
McGuffin, Jane, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Page is Half Full
Miller, John, Lexington, Virginia, Working With a First and Second Language
Moeller, Eileen, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Glass
Morant, Daisy, St. Catharines, Ontario, Nemo
Northerns, Janice, Liberal, Kansas, Breaking City Ordinances
Palacio, Harry, Mount Kisco, New York, Ambrosia
Pobo, Kenneth, Media, Pennsylvania, Uneven Steven
Repp, John, Erie, Pennsylvania, Summer Mornings in the Waning Days of Empire
Richards, Page, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, How I Learned to Drink Coffee
Robbins, Liz, St. Augustine, Florida, Nets Full of Breath
Stanton, Joseph, Aiea, Hawaii, Wild in the Backyards of Oahu
Stedronsky, Carole, Davis, California, Dear Sally
Tyx, Carol, Iowa City, Iowa, Remaking Achilles: Slicing Into Angola’s History
Ulloa, Edgar, Washington, D.C., War-X
Weingart, Arne, Chicago, Illinois, Dolmens, Menhirs, Cromlechs
White, Joanna, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, Drumskin and Bones
Wyatt, Charles, Nashville, Tennessee, 3×6: Caprices
Finalists
Andrea, Jennifer, El Cerrito, California, Keşke
Bowers, John, Ithaca, New York, Generation
DeNicola, Deborah, Margate, Florida, The Lure
Lanza, Carmela, Gallup, New Mexico, I Had Left Even Their Spirits Behind Me
Moeller, Eileen, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Glass
Nash, Amy, Minneapolis, Minnesota, The Take No Prisoners Hotel
Stedronsky, Carole, Davis, California, Dear Sally
Tyx, Carol, Iowa City, Iowa, Remaking Achilles: Slicing Into Angola’s History
Winner
Tyx, Carol, Iowa City, Iowa, Remaking Achilles: Slicing Into Angola’s History
