The New England Poetry Club is proud to announce the results of our 2026 contests!
Samuel Washington Allen Prize, selected by Kirun Kapur
Winner:
Carla Schwartz, “Elegy Sequence for Charles Coe”
Finalists:
Michelle Courtney Berry, “A Blues for Otis”
Carolyn Oliver, “On Cenotaphs and Friendship: Notes Toward Quantum Elegy”
Kim Sunee, “What Omma Never Taught”
E.E. Cummings Prize, selected by Wendy Drexler
Winner:
Lee Pelletier, “Chess”
Finalists:
Dolores Hayden, “I Listen to Money Singing”
Sonja Ringo, “Places with Terrible Wi-fi”
Diana Der-Hovanessian Prize, selected by Lloyd Schwartz
Winner:
Jay Aelick, “In My Niece’s Garden,” from the German of Nora Bossong, “Im Garten der Nichte”
Finalists:
J. Kates, “The Flute Player,” from the French of René Guy Cadou, “Le joueur de flut”
Tzivia Gover, “Genesis 20: A Poetic and Restorative Translation,” from the Biblical Hebrew
Amy Lowell Prize, selected by Jason O’Toole
Winner:
Anastasia Vassos, “Rough Marble”
Finalists:
Meredith Bergmann, “Between Two Quarries”
Mary Christine Delea, “The Secrets in the Silence”
Robbie Gamble, “The Mudroom of My Grieving”
Jean Pedrick Chapbook Prize, selected by Therese Gleason Carr
Winner:
Samaa Abdurraqib, Towards a Retreat
Finalists:
Mack Rogers, Hindsight
Evan Wang, Slow Burn
Sheila Margaret Motton Prize, selected by Heather Treseler
Winner:
V. Penelope Pelizzon, A Gaze Hound That Hunteth by the Eye
Finalists:
Dzvinia Orlowsky, Those Absences Now Closest
Laura Cresté, In the Good Years
We’re grateful to everyone who entered for bringing their poetry to the table, and to the contest judges for their time and dedication, including the panel of initial Motton Prize judges. We will host an online winners/finalists reading on Sunday afternoon, October 18, 2:00 pm EST. Information about the event, including the Zoom registration link, will appear in our newsletter, as well as on our website and social media. We hope you’ll join us then!
