Congratulations to the Winners of the 2022 Annual Writing Contest
In 2022, our Annual Writing Contest received 248 entries across 15 categories. Opening Chapter, Unpublished Book received the most entries followed by the categories of Free Verse Poetry and Nonfiction Memoir.
Winners are listed here by category and place standing. Winners are also listed in the November 2022 issue of SouthWest Sage, and most winning entries are included in SWW’s contest anthology — A Diversity of Expression: 2022 Anthology of Winning Prose & Poetry.
Opening Chapter, Published Book
1st Place: Chuck Greaves, “The Chimera Club”
2nd Place: Jennifer Leeper, “The Poison of War”
3rd Place: Victoria Murata, “When the Mockingbird Won’t Sing”
Honorable Mention: Edith Tarbescu, “One Will: Three Wives”
Honorable Mention: Jodi Lea Stewart, “Canyon of Doom”
Opening Chapter, UNPublished Book
1st Place: Paul Knight/Chris Allen, “Overture”
2nd Place: Jonathan Seyfried, “Paradigm Shift”
3rd Place: Joe Cappello, “The White Ace”
Honorable Mention: Conor McAnally, “Bullets in the Water”
Honorable Mention: Craig Higgins, “Artichoke Hearts and Chicken-Fried Shark”
Honorable Mention: Vicki Felmlee, “Defiance, West of the River”
Honorable Mention: Roger Floyd, “The Diplomat”
Honorable Mention: Jodi Lea Stewart, “Midnight at the Bus Station”
Book Review
1st Place: Roger Floyd, “Santa Fe & the Atomic Bomb”
Elevator Pitch
*1st Place: Ed Johnson, “Santiago’s Prayer”
*1st Place: Chris Allen, “Harmonic Chronicles”
3rd Place: William Fisher, “The Price of the Sky”
(This category had a tie for first place)
Limerick
1st Place: Chris Allen, “Words”
2nd Place: Roscoe Champion, “Teen Diagnosis”
3rd Place: Roscoe Champion, “Old Pro Politico”
Haiku
1st Place: Dodici Azpadu, “Snow Dust”
2nd Place: Ed Lehner, “Tears”
3rd Place: Rebecca Dakota, “Lockdown Privilege”
Honorable Mention: Wendy Brown, “Ancient Wisteria”
Honorable Mention: Rebecca Dakota, “Waiting Underground”
Free Verse Poetry
1st Place: Kathleen Holmes, “Ode to a Dead Poet”
2nd Place: Wendy Brown, “Facing Cancer at the Foot of Ladron Mountain”
3rd Place: Victoria Holmsten, “Produce Far Aisle”
Honorable Mention: Alan Bern, “In Memory of My Milton Teacher, John”
Honorable Mention: Matt Nyman, “A Different Christmas Tree”
Honorable Mention: Arlene Hoyt-Schulze, “Skipping Stones”
Prose, Flying
1st Place: James Tritten, “One Way Flight to Shakin”
2nd Place: Judith Castleberry, “The Gosling”
3rd Place: Jeffrey Otis, “The Lure of Flying”
Prose, Voyages
1st Place: Evelyn Neil, “Hitch Hiker”
2nd Place: Patricia Walkow, “An Unexpected Voyage”
3rd Place: Jette Tritten, “Across the Atlantic”
Prose, Mountains
1st Place: Leonie Rosenstiel, “Creative Procrastination”
2nd Place: Ed Lehner, “Grantston”
3rd Place: Mary Burns, “Mountain Meditation”
Prose, Celestial Bodies
1st Place: Ma Angelica Chiutena, “Orion”
2nd Place: Kathleen Holmes, “The Music Box”
3rd Place: Roger Floyd, “The Star Falls”
Non-fiction Travel
1st Place: Connie Orozco-Morgan, “Of Titans and Sprites and Forest Delights”
2nd Place: Terence Cady, “Transylvania”
3rd Place: Vicky Ramakka, “Night Photography in Joshua Tree National Park”
Non-fiction Memoir
1st Place: Ruth Marshall, “Forever”
2nd Place: Paula Nixon, “Ursa Major”
3rd Place: Evelyn Neil, “Bubble Gum”
Honorable Mention: Jennifer Trotter, “Ghost on the Lawn”
Honorable Mention: Joe Cappello, “Once Upon a Midnight”
Artwork:
This year’s contest included the opportunity to submit images to be included in the anthology. The SWW membership voted for their top five, listed below. (Other images were added to the book by the contest committee as needed.)
Interior Art
Rebecca Larivee, “Hemblett Cabin”
Jeffrey Otis, “Flyers”
Jette Tritten, “Sandia Mountains”
Robert Cudney, “Looking for Company”
Elizabeth Layton, “Wildly Shining”
Cover Art
Kathy Schuit, “Many Hats”
