Contests are held for members in conjunction with each gathering to give opportunity and encouragement to keep writing and to receive constructive feedback, recognition, and deserved praise from knowledgeable judges. Subject, form, and line limit for contests are announced in the preceding newsletter. Contest deadlines are always postmarked 1 month before the next meeting. Poems are sent anonymously to judges who make written decisions and comments on each entry, to be presented orally at the meeting. Judges' choices of the top three entries in each contest are recognized with certificates, cash awards, and publication in the newsletter. Honorable mentions are awarded certificates and published in the Stanza if space allows.

CONTEST WINNERS of April 2018 Contest
Subject Poem: A poem of no more than 30 lines that connects an experience from your own or your family history with a broader social, political, or historical context, judged by Lee Sharkey.

Winners:

1st Prize: It’s Not Natural - Bill Frayer
2nd Prize: November Deer Camp - Marshall Witten
3rd Prize: Degrees of Separation – James Breslin

NOTE: Only three poems were selected for special recognition. No honorable mentions were chosen, although the judge offered comments on the poems of all who were present.

MPS Prize Poem Contest Results

First Place: Going like Gaudi – David Sloan
Second Place: Peace Piece – Bruce Willard
Third Place: Boy on a Doorstep – Richard Foerster

Honorable Mentions (not given numbers):

The Fortune Teller – Jim Brosnan
Cold Storage – Deborah Pfeffer
In the Valley of the Brattleboro – Paul Weiss
The Places You Wore Khakis – Amy Kopec

Info on the contest for September is in the Stanza.