NC State Poetry Contest

Winner of the 2023 Dorianne Laux Poetry Prize
Clayton Walker, “Carolina Cottonmouth” (Rolesville, NC)

Honorable Mentions
Nitya Budamagunta, “Houses”  (Morrisville, NC)
Phi Chu, “Funeral” (Raleigh, NC)
Alexander Duringer, “The Prostate”  (Raleigh, NC)
John Hohn, “Freeway Migration”  (Winston-Salem, NC)

Finalists
Amadu Barrie, “That Marathon”  (Durham, NC)
Mayookh Barua, “Material for Sleep”  (Raleigh, NC)
Steven Byrd, “Intersection”  (Raleigh, NC)
Clint Bowman, “ABV Bloodline”  (Black Mountain, NC)
Patty Cass, “Wear the Dress”  (Bayboro, NC)
Ryley Fallon, “My Brother’s Laundry”  (Raleigh, NC)
Matthew Fioti, “On Gambling”  (Raleigh, NC)
Tashe House, “Sit”  (Garner, NC)
James King, “Skating at Strawberry Banke”  (Wilmington, NC)                                           
Patricia Ndombe, “On Submission” (Raleigh, NC)
Vitasta Singh, “Summer: Cologne” (Raleigh, NC)
Lucinda Trew, “Eve of the Egg”  (Weddington, NC)
Savannah Wade, “O Lost”  (Raleigh, NC)
Megan Walsh, “Coevolution”  (Raleigh, NC)
Katie Wooten, “On U.S. 421”  (Raleigh, NC)                                     

Winner of the 2023 Undergraduate Poetry Prize
Ryley Fallon, “My Brother’s Laundry”  (Raleigh, NC)

The American Academy of Poets Prize (for graduate students)
Phi Chu, “Funeral” (Raleigh, NC)

Winner of the 2022 Poetry Prize
Jennifer Weiss, “How Should We Dress to Spread Ash?” (Cary, NC)

Honorable Mentions
Jessica Era Martin, “The Hour of Forgiveness”  (Davidson, NC)
Madeleine Poole, “In His Bed, I Dream of Lavender” (Greensboro, NC)
Lucinda Trew, “Six Beats Per Minute”  (Weddington, NC)
Clayton Walker, “Wash-Out Road”  (Rolesville, NC)

Finalists
Amadu Barrie, “They See Food”  (Durham, NC)
Bryan Cambra, “They Bloom in Africa”  (Franklinton, NC)
Jan Comfort, “On the Death of Princess Diana”  (Sunset Beach, NC)
Ranice Crosby, “Shouldering the Message”  (Weaverville, NC)
Katina Foster, “Feed yourself”  (Kannapolis, NC)
John Hohn, “Saturday Morning”  (Winston-Salem, NC)
Sharon Louise Howard, “At the Campus Pub”  (Boone, NC)
Anne Lindbergh, “Microcosm”  (Raleigh, NC)
Shaina Gabriel Reuben, “Naukar”  (Raleigh, NC)                                           
Kayla Rutledge, “Real Poets Don’t Write About Love” (Raleigh, NC)
L.A. Weeks, “Dear Seedsman” (Leland, NC)
                                          

Winner of the 2022 Undergraduate Poetry Prize
Anne Lindbergh, “Microcosm”  (Raleigh, NC)

The American Academy of Poets Prize (for graduate students)
Alexander Duringer, “My Father Delivered Pizzas in Buffalo, N.Y.”

Winner of the 2021 Poetry Prize
Ravi Tewari, “Twenty Seconds until Rain”  (Raleigh, NC)

Honorable Mentions
Bryan Cambra, “What the Ocean Will Never Touch”  (Franklinton, NC)
Natalia Conte, “Self Portrait with Scalpel and Vase”  (Raleigh, NC)
Kat Myers, “Twin Theory”  (Raleigh, NC)
Alex Pickens, “Lost Generation”  (Raleigh, NC)

Finalists
Joshua Aelick, “Twenty”  (Raleigh, NC)
Jane Andrews, “Auspices”  (Raleigh, NC)
S.L. Cockerille, “Right There is the Grassy Knoll”  (New Bern, NC)
Tegan Daly, “On the Line”  (Greensboro, NC)
Joanne Durham, “Synagogue 1964”  (Kure Beach, NC)
McKenzie Jensen, “Sometimes Nana visits me but this time she’s a robin” (Banner Elk, NC)
Kelly A. Jones, “Absence of memory and a Pile of F Words” (Burlington, NC)                       Hannah Keeton, “Art the Creature”  (Cary, NC)
Nancy Swanson, “Mills Mill”  (Pisgah Forest, NC)
Clayton Walker, “Father as Ball and Chain”  (Rolesville, NC)     
Julia Watson, “Hymn to the Mustache”  (Raleigh, NC)            

Winner of the 2021 Undergraduate Poetry Prize
Joshua Aelick, “Twenty”  (Senior, English & Foreign Languages)

The American Academy of Poets Prize (for graduate students)
Clayton Walker, “Father as Ball and Chain”  (Rolesville, NC)

Winner of the 2020 Poetry Prize
Melanie Tafejian, “Eating Lung”  (Raleigh, NC)

Honorable Mentions
Prairie Moon Dalton, “Welcome Home”  (Lenoir, NC)
Sarah Dugger, “Genes”(Fearrington, NC)
Charles Fleming, “Elegy on Yellow-Stained Paper”  (Fuquay-Varina, NC)
Anne Livingston, “Nostos” (Woodfin, NC)

Finalists
Owen Auman, “Four of the Nicest Things Other People Have Done for Me”  (Cary, NC)
Don Ball, “Another New Year’s” (Raleigh, NC)
Kelsey Bruckner, “Eos”  (Asheville, NC)
Lewis Crawford, “To The Man Who May or May Not Be My Father”  (Raleigh, NC)
John Haugh, “Four Bites”  (Greensboro, NC)
Sydney James, “Commentary on Church Dating Practices”  (Chapel Hill, NC)
Misha Lazzara, “11w, 5d” (Raleigh, NC)
Kat Myers, “Orchard”(Raleigh, NC)
Alex Pickens, “The Best Version”  (Cary, NC)                                           
Lee Stockdale, “Unforeseen Consequences of Cremation” (Fairview, NC)
Alex Webster, “Song”  (Raleigh, NC)
L.A. Weeks, “What You Say”  (Leland, NC)
Ali Wood, “King Louis I”  (Raleigh, NC)

Winner of the 2020 Undergraduate Poetry Prize
Sarah Dugger, “Genes” (senior, College of College of Humanities & Social Sciences)

The American Academy of Poets Prize (for graduate students)
Misha Lazzara, “11w, 5d”

Winner of the 2019 Poetry Prize
Arielle Hebert, “Bottom Feeders”  (Cary, NC)

Honorable Mentions
Jane Craven, “De Rerum Natura”  (Raleigh, NC)
Melanie Graham, “At the Legacy Museum, Montgomery, Alabama”(Oxford, NC)
Grace McNair, “I am That I Am”  (Pittsboro, NC)
Joshua Tvrdy, “The Out-&-Proud Boy Passes the Football Boy” (Raleigh, NC)

Finalists
Tim Becker, “Guest Room”  (Chapel Hill, NC)
Kat Brazel, “Blue October” (Raleigh, NC)
Bryan Cambra, “For the People East of Me”  (Knightdale, NC)
Ina Cariño, “Milk”  (Raleigh, NC)
Robert Cavazos, “Rowhome”  (Raleigh, NC)
Jane Craven, “De Rerum Natura”  (Raleigh, NC)
Allison Darcy, “After the Master Class, They Look Only At My Hips” (Butner, NC)
Melanie Graham, “At the Legacy Museum, Montgomery, Alabama”(Oxford, NC)
Arielle Hebert, “Bottom Feeders”  (Cary, NC)                                           
Katie Kehoe, “Dear Em” (Greensboro, NC)
Annie Livingston, “Retellings”  (Burnsville, NC)
Grace McNair, “I Am That I Am”  (Pittsboro, NC)
Patricia Ndombe, “I want to be pricked in the tongue by a fishhook”  (Knightdale, NC)
Mary Anna Rice, “Marine”  (Raleigh, NC)
Sarah Roles, “Wildflower Memories”  (Wilmington, NC)
Cynthia Sharpe, “Fix It Jesus”  (Raleigh, NC)     
D.M. Spratley, “Collector of Debts” (Durham, NC)    
Melanie Tafejian, “You’d Think for Eighteen Dollars It Would Last Longer” (Raleigh, NC)
Joshua Tvrdy, “The Out-&-Proud Boy Passes the Football Boy” (Raleigh, NC)   
Brianna Yancey, “Make Sure they Use the Good Picture” (Greensboro, NC)

Winner of the 2019 Undergraduate Poetry Prize
Elijah Lockhart, “looking back” (senior, College of Sciences, College of Humanities & Social Sciences)

The American Academy of Poets Prize (for graduate students)
Joshua Tvrdy, “Dad Said He Knew How To Weld”

Winner of the 2018 Poetry Prize:
Kevin Coyne, “On Mission in Haiti”  (Raleigh, NC)

Honorable Mentions:
Threa Almontaser, “Pit-Stop Sisters”  (Raleigh, NC)
Melanie Graham, “DisOwned”(Holly Springs, NC)
Nathan Kotecki, “Miss Simone Goddam”  (Durham, NC)
Zachary Lunn, “Shared Custody”  (Raleigh, NC)

Finalists
Threa Almontaser, “Pit-Stop Sisters”  (Raleigh, NC)
Jen Arthur, “Treehouse, a Sonnet” (Raleigh, NC)
Michael Boccardo, “Alone in the Wilderness, You Know My Name”  (High Point, NC)
Melina Casados, “I Don’t Fuck With Babysitters”  (Elon, NC)
Josephine Cariño, “Open Late”  (Raleigh, NC)
Kevin Coyne, “On Mission in Haiti”  (Raleigh, NC)
Blair Donahue, “Ode to My Chicago Hardy Fig Tree” (Raleigh, NC)
Melanie Graham, “DisOwned”(Holly Springs, NC)
Andrew Hachey, “Saint Anne’s Among the Pines”  (Raleigh, NC)                                                  
Arielle Hebert, “Harvest Burning”  (Cary, NC)
Griffin James, “Heritage”  (Willard, NC)
Nathan Kotecki, “Miss Simone Goddam”  (Durham, NC)
Zachary Lunn, “Shared Custody”  (Raleigh, NC)
C.I. Marshall, “How to Talk Wild”  (Carrboro, NC)
Heather Michno, “Things I Shouldn’t Look At But I Do”  (Raleigh, NC)
Emma Pearl Ramsey, “Poem for My Mother”  (Raleigh, NC)     
Taylor Sykes, “Knox” (Raleigh, NC)
Will Walton, “Vietnam Veterans Memorial” (Raleigh, NC)
Anna Yount, “South Mills River” (Hendersonville, NC)

Winner of the 2018 Undergraduate Poetry Prize
Kat Brazel, “looking back” (senior, Humanities & Social Sciences)

The American Academy of Poets Prize (for graduate students)
Jane Craven, “Asphodel” (Raleigh, NC)

Winner of the 2017 Poetry Prize
T.J. Morgan, “Portrait of Grandmother According to Multiverse Theory” (Raleigh, NC)

Honorable Mentions:
Abigail Browning, “The Fourth” (Chapel Hill, NC)
Melanie Graham, “Sundays, Too, We Got Up Early” (Holly Springs, NC)
Marty Saunders, “Memorial Day, Monongahela Cemetery” (Raleigh, NC)
Ashley Steineger, “Maximum Occupancy of My Uterus” (Raleigh, NC)

Finalists
Charles Canady, “Proud Plow” (Fayetteville, NC)
Rochelle Germond, “The Red Line” (Raleigh, NC)
Arielle Hebert, “Mary in the Glass” (Raleigh, NC)
Zachary Lunn, “Dear John Letter” (Raleigh, NC)
Josh Orol, “Esther” (Raleigh, NC)
Emma Pearl Ramsey, “We Plant A Garden Every Year” (Raleigh, NC)
Timothy Rodriguez, “A Diet” (Ocean Isle Beach, NC)
Kyle Rosko, “Two Months A Father” (Raleigh, NC)
Heidi Sherlock, “Carrying the Burden of the World in Your Coat Pockets” (Warne, NC)
Jen Suchanec, “Confession” (Raleigh, NC)
Taylor Sykes, “Boyfriend Box #3” (Raleigh, NC)

Winner of the 2017 Undergraduate Poetry Prize
Luis Vera, “Headlines” (senior, English)

The American Academy of Poets Prize (for graduate students)
Zachary Lunn, “Medevac” (Raleigh, NC)

Winner of the 2016 Poetry Prize:
Samuel Piccone, “Things I Wish I Told My Mother”  (Raleigh, NC)

Honorable Mentions:
Christina Clark, “First Date With Wolf”  (Wilmington, NC)
T.J. Morgan, “Lineage”  (Raleigh, NC)
Kevin Coyne, “After Her Mastectomy”  (Elon, NC)
Alabama Stone, “Whiskey Creek”  (Raleigh, NC)

Finalists
Threa Almontaser, “Bad Words”  (Raleigh, NC)
Jane Andrews, “Diagnosis” (Raleigh, NC)
Frankie Campisano, “Dog Souls (Jesus in Aisle Three)”  (Elon, NC)
Erin Rose Coffin, “What Descends Into Flesh”  (Raleigh, NC)
Will Drake, “Papa Bill”  (Raleigh, NC)
Melanie Graham, “The Pleasure of Hating: Tamir/Emmett”  (Holly Springs, NC)
Jackson Meyers Hall, “Photographing the Lost War” (Carrboro, NC)
Fedor Kossakovski, “Ways the Universe Could End, in Descending Order of Probability” (Chapel Hill, NC)
Thomas Park, “Soul City”  (Warrenton, NC)
Elizabeth Purvis, “At the Forum”  (Raleigh, NC)
Eli Sahm, “after the wine bar with my hand”  (Wilmington, NC)
Sara Shea, “Magnolia Plantation, Late December”  (Lake Lure, NC)
Isabelle Shepherd, “Doe Season in Braxton County, West Virginia”  (Wilmington, NC)
Stephanie Smith, “Getting By Without A Fix”  (Raleigh, NC)
Emily Paige Wilson, “The Old Country”  (Wilmington, NC)

Winner of the 2016 Undergraduate Poetry Prize
Threa Almontaser, “Bad Words” (senior, English)

The American Academy of Poets Prize (for graduate students)
Martin Saunders (Raleigh, NC)

Winner of the 2015 Poetry Prize

 Mary Hennessy, “Home to See My Brother”  (Raleigh, NC)

 Honorable Mentions:
 Emily Cinquemani, “Surviving the Flood”  (Elon, NC)
 Chelsea Krieg, “The Elegy I Wanted to Write”  (Chapel Hill, NC)
 A. Kat Reece, “On Being Well Informed”  (Raleigh, NC)
 Matthew Wimberley, “All the Great Territories” (Beech Mountain, NC)

Finalists
Jenn Bedard, “Innocence”  (Raleigh, NC)
Anuradha Bhowmik, “Birthday Photograph, 1997” (Chapel Hill, NC)
Rebecca Bornstein, “Goat Madonna”  (Raleigh, NC)
Heather Bowlan, “Folly, My Friend” (Raleigh, NC)
Katherine Cays, “The Separation”  (Apex, NC)
Leila Chatti, “Muslim Christmas” (Raleigh, NC)
Bryce Emley, “Night Walk” (Raleigh, NC)
Jacob Fulk, “Philip Robin Lauren, 2015” (Raleigh, NC)
Allison Darcy, “Yerushalayim”  (Elon, NC)
Carlene Kucharczyk, “Curtains” (Raleigh, NC)
Darren Lipman, “Suppose”  (Raleigh, NC)

Winner of the 2015 Undergraduate Poetry Prize
Darren Lipman, “Suppose”; senior, Mathematics and Political Science (Asheboro, NC)

Winner of the 2014 Poetry Prize
Betty Ritz Rogers, “The Singing Bowl”  (Greensboro, NC)

Honorable Mentions:
Helena Bell, “The Slough Ages While We Stand Still”  (Raleigh, NC)
Carlene Kucharczyk, “Song”  (Raleigh, NC)
Kelly Michels, “Learning”  (Raleigh, NC)
Jennifer Whitaker, “Mother’s Foxes” (Greensboro, NC)

Finalists
Don Ball, “Heliosheath”  (Chapel Hill, NC)
Aaron Ballance, “Sugarfoot”  (Greensboro, NC)
Gabrielle Freeman, “Brief History of a Town” (Greenville, NC)
Elizabeth Jackson, “For the Soldier Who Left the Army But Lives Ten Miles from Base”  (Raleigh, NC)
Dee Lalley, “Perspectives”  (Raleigh, NC)
Jerred Metts, “What Dad Said”  (Raleigh, NC)
Elizabeth Purvis, “Eight-Ball”  (Elon, NC)
A Kat Reece, “Thanksgiving”  (Raleigh, NC)
Jen Suchanec, “Symanski and Sons”  (Raleigh, NC)
Matthew Valades, “Old Couple Talking”  (Pittsboro, NC)
Matt Wimberley, “Elegy Where the Snow Speaks its Own Name” (Beech Mountain, NC)

Winner of the 2014 Undergraduate Poetry Prize
Tyree Daye, “Croker”; senior, English (Youngsville, NC)

The American Academy of Poets Prize (for graduate students)
Heather Bowlan, “A Great City” (Raleigh, NC)

Spencer Goyette, “Church, Bird and Tree” (Raleigh, NC)

Honorable Mentions
Alice Owens Johnson, “Clothesline”  (Black Mountain, NC)
Karina McCorkle, “Tоска”  (Chapel Hill, NC)
Kari Smith, “Learning Curve”  (Raleigh, NC)
Shannon Ward, “Dressing the Pig”  (Fayetteville, NC)

Finalists
Aaron Ballance, “Round Peak”  (Greensboro, NC)
Judith Behar, “Aging”  (Greensboro, NC)
Melissa Cumber, “Number Eleven”  (Garner, NC)
Katherine Darden, “Spence”   (Morrisville, NC)
Rochelle Germond, “Missing”  (Raleigh, NC)
Alice Owens Johnson, “Clothesline”  (Black Mountain, NC)
Karina McCorkle, “Tоска”  (Chapel Hill, NC)
Jessica Quah, “(No Stone) Unturned”  (Greensboro, NC)
A Kat Reece, “Ulcers”  (Raleigh, NC)
LeighAnna Schesser, “The Trouble”  (Raleigh, NC)
Rob Shapiro, “Almost There”  (Elon, NC)
Kari Smith, “Learning Curve”  (Raleigh, NC)
Jordan Taylor, “Abandoned Farmhouse”  (Wendell, NC)
Shannon Ward, “Dressing the Pig”  (Fayetteville, NC)
Matt Wimberley, “Homebound”  (Beech Mountain, NC)

Winner of the 2013 Undergraduate Poetry Prize
Jordan Taylor, “Abandoned Farmhouse”  (senior, English)

The American Academy of Poets Prize (for graduate students)
Richard Nace, “Walking on Glass” (Raleigh, NC)

Winner of the 2012 Poetry Prize
Tasha Pippin, “At the Funeral”  (Rocky Mount, NC)

Honorable Mentions
Claudia McQuistion, “After A Death”  (Greensboro, NC)
Lance Morrison, “To Richard Siken”  (Raleigh, NC)
Kari Smith, “Pink”  (Raleigh, NC)
Matt Wimberley, “Black Mountain Poem”  (Beech Mountain, NC)

Finalists
Elly Bookman, “In-Flight Poem”  (Greensboro, NC)
Megan Bostic, “If It’s A Boy”  (Raleigh, NC)
Evan Brisson, “My Father’s Hebrew Lesson”  (Raleigh, NC)
Gavin Cobb, “The Vacation Homes”  (Winston-Salem, NC)
Sierra Golden, “Bear”  (Raleigh, NC)
Elizabeth Jackson, “Dressing the Wound”  (Raleigh, NC)
Jonathan McClure, “Hospital, Night”  (Greensboro, NC)
Jessica Marie Plante, “Horses”  (Greensboro, NC)
Rob Shapiro, “The Map”  (Elon, NC)
Jennifer Whitaker, “The Lesson”  (Greensboro, NC)

Winner of the 2012 Undergraduate Poetry Prize
Evan Brisson, “My Father’s Hebrew Lesson”  (senior, English)

The American Academy of Poets Prize (for graduate students)
Sierra Golden, “Bear”  (Raleigh, NC)

Winner of the 2011 Poetry Prize:
Brian Ownbey, “Where Touching Leads Us”  (Raleigh, NC)

Honorable Mentions
Sierra Golden, “Visiting Tenakke Springs, AK”  (Raleigh, NC)
Robert Greene, “Band of Aides ”  (Raleigh, NC)
Claudine Moreau, “Upon Seeing An Ex-Boyfriend in an After-Sex Scene on a Daytime Soap” (Burlington, NC)
Katie Prince, “A Letter to My Unborn Child”  (Raleigh, NC)

Finalists
Don Ball, “Driving Lessons”  (Chapel Hill, NC)
Leethaniel Brumfield, “He-She”  (Raleigh, NC)
Maria Isabelle Carlos, “Sign Language”  (Chapel Hill, NC)
Danielle Carr, “[Poem about Crawling into a Lightbulb]” (Raleigh, NC)
Ansel Elkins, “Goat Man”  (Greensboro, NC)
Claudia McQuistion, “Circe Approaches Old Age”  (Greensboro, NC)
Timothy Reavis, “Jurassic Parking Lot”  (Raleigh, NC)
Kari Smith, “Different At Night” (Raleigh, NC)
Corrie Lynn White, “Friday”  (Raleigh, NC)
Jake Young, “Look, Don’t Touch”  (Raleigh, NC)

Winner of the 2011 Undergraduate Poetry Prize
A. Kat Reece, “Wallet-Size Photo of the Child I Gave Up”  (junior, Religious Studies)

Winner of the 2010 Prize
Tara Taylor, “The Magician’s Assistant” (Raleigh, NC)

Honorable Mentions
Keun-Hae Lee, “Need” (Raleigh, NC)
Judith Behar, “Another Spring” (Greensboro, NC)

The American Academy of Poets Prize (for NC State graduate students)
Megan Roberts, “Snowbabies”

Honorable Mentions
Emily Howson, “Camping”
Alexandra Distler, “The reasons (or discussing the family trait of deep depression with my brother)”

(Tie) Winners of the 2009 Brenda Smart Poetry Prize:
Rachel Richardson, “One Summer” (Greensboro, NC)
Rebecca Warren, “In the Neighborhood of Fire” (Greensboro, NC)

Honorable Mentions
Hannah Bonner, “What We Hope For” (Chapel Hill, NC)
Sarah Cox, “An Invocation, Revised” (Greensboro, NC)
Megan Roberts, “My Father’s Side” (Raleigh, NC)

Finalists
Sarah Archer, “Life-long iron lung user dies during power failure” (Chapel Hill, NC)
Donald Ball, “All This” (Chapel Hill, NC)
Michael Colonnese, “Dead Spike Buck on the Blue Ridge Parkway” (Fayetteville, NC)
Alexandra Distler, “Debt” (Raleigh, NC)
Robert Greene, “forget Freud, read Mina Loy” (Raleigh, NC)
Elizabeth Jackson, “Hanging On” (Raleigh, NC)
Jeff Miles, “The Quiet Country” (Greensboro, NC)
Robert McCall, “Bodies Out of Motion” (Saluda, NC)
Matt Poindexter, “Learning to Whistle” (Carrboro, NC)
Mark Spring, “His First Time” (Raleigh, NC)
Shannon Ward, “The Butcher” (Raleigh, NC)

Winner of the 2009 Undergraduate Poetry Prize
Robert Greene, “forget Freud, read Mina Loy” (senior, English)

The American Academy of Poets Prize (for graduate students)
Celeste Doaks, “Video Girls vs. B-Girls” (Raleigh, NC)

Winner of the 2008 Brenda Smart Poetry Prize:
C.G. Thompson, “Post Card to Ravinna”  (Greenville, NC)

Honorable Mentions
Don Ball, “After the Dead ”  (Chapel Hill, NC)
William Blackley , “For God’s Sake”  (Elkin, NC)
Juliana Daugherty, “Ephphatha”  (Chapel Hill, NC)
Brian Ownbey, “Sanctuary”  (Raleigh, NC)

Finalists
Jane Andrews, “The Cowboy Way” (Raleigh, NC)
Mark Jay Brewin, “Todo Que Saben Es Trabajo” (Elon, NC)
Sarah Bull, “The Library Janitor” (Durham, NC)
Jessie Carty, “Best Friends ” (Charlotte, NC)
Sarah Cox, “The Cartography of Winter ” (Burlington, NC)
Eloise Gilster, “Market Watch” (Raleigh, NC)
Sean Honea, “Melatonin Blues ” (Chapel Hill, NC)
Elizabeth Jackson, “Memorial Hospital, Chapel HIll, NC” (Raleigh, NC)
Ariel Rudolph, “Writing in Dust” (Chapel Hill, NC)
Sarah Servie, “City Lights ” (Raleigh, NC)
Jennifer Smyre, “Coffee Shop” (Chapel Hill, NC)
Robert Wells, “Separation” (Chapel Hill, NC)

Winner of the 2008 Undergraduate Poetry Prize
Jeannine Erasmus, “This Thing Called Love” (sophomore, English)

The American Academy of Poets Prize (for graduate students)
Noel Crook, “Job” (Raleigh, NC)

Winner of the 2007 Brenda Smart Poetry Prize:
Noel Crook, “The Slaves”  (Raleigh, NC)

Honorable Mentions
Michael Gaspeny, “Shore Drive”  (Greensboro, NC)
Randy Ogle, “Millbrook, NY”  (Morrisville, NC)
Pamela St. Clair, “Bird Song”  (Wilmington, NC)
Mark Sells, “Fear Poem”  (Salisbury, NC)

Finalists
Don Ball, “Easter Egg” (Chapel Hill, NC)
Michael Colonnese, “The Classic Vault” (Fayetteville, NC)
Melody Garren, “Vanity of a Third-Grader” (Rutherfordton, NC)
Valentina Gnup, “At Edward Hopper’s Self-Portrait”  (Greensboro, NC)
Lauren Gould, “Via Larga, 39”  (Raleigh, NC)
Sarah Hamm, “Little Girl Hiding Poem”  (Salisbury, NC)
Michael Mayo, “The best part about digging holes for a living is you can’t take your work home with you”  (Raleigh, NC)
Emily Meineke, “Outside the Baptist Church” (Chapel HIll, NC)
Calvin Nordt, “Physics” (Apex, NC)
Hannah Louise Poston, “That Roman Holiday”  (Carrboro, NC)
Allison Seay, “The Absence”  (Greensboro, NC)
Anthony Snider, “A Quiet Afternoon”  (Wilmington, NC)
Travis Smith, “Comfort, 4th of July” (Chapel HIll, NC)

Winner of the 2007 Undergraduate Poetry Prize
Lauren Upton, “Water, Water Everywhere” (Raleigh, NC)

American Academy of Poetry Prize (for graduate students)
Kelly Michels, “Static in the Dark” (Raleigh, NC)

Winner of the 2006 Brenda Smart Poetry Prize
Heather Marcinowski, “The Charming” (Durham, NC)

Honorable Mentions
Amy Knox Brown, “Old Wives Tales” (Winston-Salem, NC) Sam Cross, “Cabin Fever” (Raleigh, NC)
Ed Devany, “Don’t Go Outside the Fence” (Chapel HIll, NC)
Joy Beshears Hagy, “Rapture” (Lexington, NC)
Jaime Laughter, “Gray’s Lily” (Fuquay Varina, NC)

Finalists
Don Ball, “Alachua County 1988” (Chapel Hill, NC)
Ryland Bowman, “What I’ll Need When I Go” (Greensboro, NC)
Cesar Castro, “Fifth Grade Torture Manual” (Carrboro, NC)
Jack Christian, “Boy On A String” (Raleigh, NC)
Sara Claytor, “Gangsters, Blondes, and P.I.’s”  (Elk Park, NC)
Hilary Collins, “Swannanoa, N.C.” (Swannanoa, NC)
Mary Hennessy, “In An Escher Print” (Raleigh, NC)
Mandy Monath, “Geese” (Salisbury, NC)
Brian Ownbey, “Indiana”  (Raleigh, NC)
Daniel Parsons, “Rook-worm” (Raleigh, NC)
Ariel Rudolph, “Don’t Look” (Boone, NC)
Elizabeth Stagg, “The Certainty of Husbands” (Durham, NC)
Cedric Tillman, “Branding” (Charlotte, NC)
Dianne Timblin, “From the Kitchen of Georgia M., July ’31” (Durham, NC)
Lauren Upton  “Equus Callabus” (Raleigh, NC)
Joan Weiner  “A Hard Man to Love” (Asheville, NC)
Marian Westbrook “Interlude” (Goldsboro, NC)

The Brenda L. Smart Undergraduate Poetry Prize
Michael Mayo, “Blowing Off Death” (senior, English) Raleigh, NC

Winner of the 2005 Brenda Smart Poetry Prize
Irene Harvley-Felder, “In Celebration of Death” (Burlington, NC)

Honorable Mentions
Michael Colonnese, “Scabs” (Fayetteville, NC)
Timur Hammond, “How to Harvest the Last of the Basil” (Chapel Hill, NC)
Nora Shepard, “Out of the Ordinary” (Raleigh, NC)
Anna Franklin Smith, “Widow” (Raleigh, NC)

Finalists
Jeremy Aufrance, “A Sketch of Life Without You” (Greensboro, NC)
Evan Benz, “how else can a mirror blush?” (Raleigh, NC)
A.J. Collins, “Generation” (Falkland, NC)
Madge Duffey, “Leaving” (Raleigh, NC)
Rebecca Germain, “Talin” (Morrisville, NC)
Eloise Gilster, “Fruit” (Chapel Hill, NC)
Alex Grant, “How the Cuckoo Sings” (Chapel Hill, NC)
Kristen Gravitte, “Lazarus” (Raleigh, NC)
Mark Hennessy, “Maximum Possible Error” (Raleigh, NC)
Charles Jester, “Open Air” (Durham, NC)
J.D. McGee, “Observations at Merritt Island” (Raleigh, NC)
Jessica Polka, “Autohagiography of Lidwina of Schiedam (died 1433)” (Chapel Hill, NC)
Rebecca Robbins, “Swimming Pool, 1964” (Raleigh, NC)
Jessica Sampley, “Tuscaloosa to Tupelo” (Raleigh, NC)
Marian Westbrook, “Preservation” (Goldsboro, NC)

Winner of the 2005 Undergraduate Poetry Prize
Millie Breedlove, “Eve” (senior, English)