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WPA Contest Winners (1990-1999)

These pages contain lists of all Washington Poets Association contest winners since the WPA begain running contests in 1972. We have compiled as many of the WPA contest results as we could find by reviewing archived issues of newsletters and other papers.

Thanks go out to to Karen Havnaer for her work in compiling all the contest results from the WPA archives and helping to provide biographical data, and to Michael Dylan Welch for additional writing, editing, and text preparation.

Help Us Make Corrections and Add Poems

Help Unfortunately, some of our historical information is incomplete, and may contain errors, so we need your help. We need assistance in adding the names of judges and other information, wherever ??? appears. We would also like to add the winning poems themselves, so if you have the text for any of the following winning poems, please contact us. And if you spot any other errors or omissions, please let us know. With your help we can make this list into a full and enjoyable archive of award-winning poetry by Northwest poets.


1990

William Stafford, Adult (Sam Hamill, Judge)

  • 1st Teahouse Jazz, Jane Glazer
  • 2nd Coulee, Teri Platt
  • 3rd On the Tarn, Glenda Cassutt

Homer Henderson, Senior High (Sean Bentley, Judge)

  • 1st Card Games, Eowyn Brown
  • 2nd Self Portrait without a Frame, Michelle C. Martin
  • 3rd (tie) Summer Harvest, Becky Baerman
  • 3rd (tie) Painting the Water, Laira Briggeman

Totem, Junior High (Teresa Bachman, Judge)

  • 1st Renton, Dec. '89 — Xmas Eve, Lynda Kelsey
  • 2nd The Victor, Ryan Fletcher
  • 3rd Where the World Ends, Abigail Moreland

Carlin Aden, Traditional, Adult (Ed Harkness, Judge)

  • 1st Neighbor, Georgia Tiffany
  • 2nd (tie) The Greatest Spartan, Leigh Hunt
  • 2nd (tie) With Its Catch, Webs Vibrating, Susan Landgraf

Betty Fukuyama, Traditional, Student (Margo Reinsch and Tamar Shdo, Judges)

  • 1st The Fisherman's Sending Off, Sheryl Stover
  • 2nd A Time of Change, Donald S. Francis II
  • 3rd Mommy, Mommy, Jennifer Hawks

Charles Proctor, Humor (Charlie Kopp, Judge)

  • 1st Our Old Fence, Kay Powers
  • 2nd What the Romantics Ate, Sallie Tierney
  • 3rd Housewife's Lament, Lois Gano Schiller

1991

William Stafford, Adult (William Stafford, Judge)

  • 1st 64 Crayolas, Carol Gordon
  • 2nd Jennie, 1950 to 1991, John Raven
  • 3rd Anniversary, Leslie O. Siemer

Carlin Aden, Traditional (Amelia Haller, Judge)

  • 1st My Sisters, My Enemies, Carol Gordon
  • 2nd Haiku, Jerine Watson
  • 3rd Enchanted, Kathleen England

Charlie Proctor, Humor (David Fewster, Judge)

  • 1st Cheap Shoes, T. Alice Clear
  • 2nd With Love All Things Are Found in the Waste Basket, Carol Gordon
  • 3rd Comp Teacher's Swan Song, Lori Jo Oswald

Homer Henderson, Senior High (Judith Irwin, Judge)

  • 1st Parrot, Debbie Hess
  • 2nd ???, Don Francis
  • 3rd ???, Greg Haley

Tom Erdmann Jr. Totem Award (Barbara Renfro, Judge)

Honorable Mentions

  • Maureen Mitchell
  • Jennifer Swartley
  • Jenni Zahradnek

Betty Fukuyama, Traditional, Student (Margo Reinsch, Judge)

  • 1st In the Attic, Jennifer Heaton
  • 2nd ???, Chad Clouse
  • 3rd ???, Don Francis

1992

William Stafford, Free Verse (Joan Swift, Judge)

  • 1st Limits of Spectacle Lake, T. Clear
  • 2nd In Line, USA Passport Office, Helen Pearson
  • 3rd Heartsong, Interstate 90, Connie Hutchison

Carlin Aden, Traditional (Gladys Cardiff, Judge)

  • 1st On Seeing Beatrice Dressing at the Frye, Kay Powers
  • 2nd A September Morn in Redmond, 1990, Barbara Thomas
  • 3rd Twilight Farewell, Michael Smith

Charlie Proctor, Humor (Margo Reinsch, Judge)

  • 1st Academic Polemic, Lynn Ellsworth Taylor
  • 2nd The Victorian, Barbara Thomas
  • 3rd The Victor Correspondence, Tyler Fleeson

Homer Henderson, Senior High (Lee Bassett, Judge)

  • 1st Moclips, Rachel Suko
  • 2nd Waiting for My Man, Jennifer Jones
  • 3rd Which Way Today, Erika Hypse

Betty Fukuyama, Traditional, Junior (Carol Gordon, Judge)

  • 1st Shadows and Swallows, Chad Bartlett
  • 2nd Child at the End of the Hall, Jennifer Hebb
  • 3rd Saved By Your Smile, Jeff Edburg

Tom Erdmann Jr., Junior High (Barb Renfrow, Judge)

  • 1st The Last Night, Alesha Maikee
  • 2nd Monday, Kara Dixon

1993

William Stafford, Free Verse (Laura Jensen, Judge)

  • 1st Creek's Three Wishes, Jim Hanlen
  • 2nd Thunderstones, Mt. Hood Lava Beds, Linda Greenmun
  • 3rd Next Door, T. Clear

Carlin Aden, Traditional (???, Judge)

    1st Poker Night on Mt. Spokane, George Perreault

Honorable Mentions

  • ???, Carrie Sheehan
  • ???, Jo Nelson
  • ???, Richard Lancaster
  • ???, Richard Gibbons
  • ???, Katherine Paulsen
  • ???, Vicki Humbyrd

Charlie Proctor, Humor (Bart Baxter, Judge)

  • 1st In the Boeing Cafeteria, Kay Powers
  • 2nd P.M.S., Dotty Armstrong

Homer Henderson, Senior High (???, Judge)

  • 1st Skinny Boys in Broken Doorways, Grace Preyapongpisan
  • 2nd Cold Lead, James Mantooth
  • 3rd Straw Houses, Jennifer Shepard

Tom Erdmann Jr., Junior High (John Raven, Judge)

  • 1st What She Did, Sarah McKinstry
  • 2nd Mirror, Mandy Widdis
  • 3rd Window Pet, Rosa Powers

Betty Fukuyama, Traditional, Student (???, Judge)

  • 1st (tie) For Christopher, Nicole Carter
  • 1st (tie) Phileo, Juliet Crawford
  • 2nd Yo, Joel, Jeff Edburgh

1994

William Stafford, Free Verse (George Venn, Judge)

  • 1st My Father Asleep, Jeanne Lohmann
  • 2nd The Limits of Midnight, Kelly Brown
  • 3rd Invitation, Michael Gregory

Charlie Proctor, Humor (Jim Bill, Judge)

  • 1st Elegy for Andre the Giant, Bart Baxter
  • 2nd Of the Poor Auld Mon, Elizabeth Bolton
  • 3rd Parties, Teresa Bachman

Carlin Aden, Traditional (Judith Irwin, Judge)

  • 1st Subway to Roxbury, Mark McPherson
  • 2nd Blue Mood in Waltz Time, A Song for Mary, Elizabeth Bolton
  • 3rd In the Art Institute of Chicago, John Burns

Homer Henderson, Senior High (Margo Reinsch, Judge)

  • 1st Veteran's Song, Andrea Palpant
  • 2nd The Last Descent, Nick Reynolds
  • 3rd Alzheimer, Ti Dinethongaay

Betty Fukuyama, Traditional, Junior (Arlene Paul, Judge)

  • 1st Sweet Imagination, Andrea Nelson
  • 2nd Release, Lisa Boyette
  • 3rd A Romantic, Kelly Foust

Tom Erdmann Jr. Totem Award (Nancy Weeks, Judge)

  • 1st Discrimination, Ariel Diaz Stamm
  • 2nd Those Tapping Days, Lisa Behrens
  • 3rd Remembering, Anisa Ishida

Haiku Contest (Francine Porad, Judge)

  • 1st At night, Robert Randall, Federal Way

  • At night
    firefly stars kindle
    my dream ashes

  • 2nd each, Kohjin Sakamoto, Kyoto, Japan

  • each
    with its own shadow
    ants in line

  • 3rd cloud, Robert Gibson, Centralia

  • cloud
    tree sea sail
    one wind one mind

1995

William Stafford, Free Verse (???, Judge)

  • 1st Two Years, Kelly Barrett Brown
  • 2nd On California's Proposition 187, Kay Powers
  • 3rd The Columbus Tree, Jeff Crandall

Carlin Aden, Traditional Verse (???, Judge)

  • 1st Lichen, Bart Baxter
  • 2nd Heloise, The Nun, Mourns Abelard, Sarah Singer
  • 3rd Sonnet XVII: My Grandma's Sonnet, Anita Dupris

Charlie Proctor, Humor (???, Judge)

  • 1st Satan Escapes from Hell, Jeff Crandall
  • 2nd The Beatings My Father Gave Me, Bart Baxter
  • 3rd Ma's Master Plan, Barbara Hamby

Homer Henderson, Senior High (???, Judge)

  • 1st Finishing a Pastel Drawing, Danielle Olson
  • 2nd On a Cliff Above the Snake River, Adina Smith
  • 3rd Family Trips, Leah Smith

Betty Fukuyama, Traditional, Junior (???, Judge)

  • 1st Gypsies, Leah Smith
  • 2nd Winter Sonnet, Poppy Fry
  • 3rd Night Moves, Tim Harnett

Tom Erdmann Jr., Junior High (???, Judge)

  • 1st ???, ???
  • 2nd Time, Amanda Kandoll
  • 3rd Head Stone, Joelle Keith

1996

William Stafford, Free Verse (James Bertolino, Judge)

  • 1st Singing Up the Sun, Joanne Barrie Lynn
  • 2nd (tie) Women in Hats, Bart Baxter
  • 2nd (tie) The Woman Who Gets Inside the Wind, Carolyn Maddux
  • 3rd (tie) Eleven-Stringed Lute, Wayne Lee
  • 3rd (tie) A Dream in Which I Fall in Love with the Raised Petroglyphs of Your Palate, Linda Malnack

Carlin Aden, Traditional (Sarah Singer, Judge)

  • 1st Barnyard Butterflies, Carolyn Maddux
  • 2nd Night Song, Jeanne Lohmann
  • 3rd Maundy Thursday, Bart Baxter

Charlie Proctor, Humor (Kevin Miller, Judge)

  • 1st Tale of the Wicked Cherry Tomatoes, Linda Malnack
  • 2nd Generational Change, Mary L. Misel
  • 3rd What I Did Not Do, Marjorie Rommel

Homer Henderson, Senior High (Mary Lou Sanelli, Judge)

  • 1st Letter to My Father from 1978 to 1996, Jeremy B. Voigt
  • 2nd Walter's Prayer, Emily Beyer
  • 3rd Venus De Milo, Sarah Bly

Betty Fukuyama, Traditional, Junior (Gayle Kaune, Judge)

  • 1st The Mother, Wayne Garrett-Kostin
  • 2nd A Passionate Grunge to His Babe; With Apologies to Christopher Marlowe, Elizabeth Stallings

Tom Erdmann Jr. Totem Award (Margaret Hodge, Judge)

  • 1st Hope, Laurie Ballew
  • 2nd It Will Never Happen, Michelle Ruzicka
  • 3rd Empty Thoughts, Zela McKinstry

1997

William Stafford, Free Verse (Kevin Miller, Judge)

  • 1st In the Hotel Biron, Bart Baxter
  • 2nd Too Hot to Move, Jess Mills
  • 3rd For Geraldine, Glenda Cassutt

Carlin Aden, Traditional (Kevin Miller, Judge)

  • 1st The Wind Counsels Daedalus, Bart Baxter
  • 2nd Lavinia at Emily's Bedside—May 14, 1886, Sarah Singer
  • 3rd Going Downstairs, Nathan E. Deeter

Charlie Proctor, Humor (Tom Erdmann Jr. and Margo Reinsch, Judges)

  • 1st Complaint Against the Visionary Legacy of On-Hold Muzac, Pamela Moore Dionne
  • 2nd For Love of Chocolate, Joanne M. Riley
  • 3rd Housewife in Heat, Lorri L. Smith

Homer Henderson, Senior High (???, Judge)

  • 1st Canadian Geese, Jeremy B. Voigt
  • 2nd Turning Holy Ground, Jamie Williams
  • Honorable Mention: As a Trout, Jeremy B. Voigt

Betty Fukuyama, Traditional, Junior (???, Judge)

  • 1st Seasons in Debais Corner, Brandon Wyant
  • Honorable Mention: Trying Hard to Follow Rules I Don't Believe In, Katie Anderson
  • Honorable Mention: The Owl, Katy Hurd

Tom Erdmann Jr. Totem Award (???, Judge)

  • 1st His Sandi, Shannon Mitchell
  • Honorable Mentions: Hope, Daniel Prince
  • Honorable Mention: This Is Us, Emily Miller

1998

William Stafford, Free Verse (???, Judge)

  • 1st Wintergarten, Linda Malnack
  • 2nd Cicadas at El Pindal Caves, Sharon Carter
  • 3rd It Could Have Been Fireflies, Georgia Tiffany

Carlin Aden, Traditional (???, Judge)

  • 1st Roxanne at the Nunnery Remembers Cyrano, Sarah Singer
  • 2nd Elizabethan Escape, Ree Cie Ivan
  • 3rd Artists and Physicians, Pamela Moore Dionne

Charlie Proctor, Humor (Bart Baxter, Judge)

  • 1st Love Nest, Sheryl Sirotnik
  • 2nd (tie) One Mother's Cheap Thrill, Lorri Smith
  • 2nd (tie) Ode to Range Cows--2nd Movement, Laura L. Snyder
  • 3rd Goodbye, No. 18, Lorraine Ford Lee

Bart Baxter Poetry Performance Award

  • 1st Snakes, Clarice Keegan
  • 2nd In Memory of Jeremiah Buck, Dave Caserio
  • 3rd Silver Woman, Cecily Markham
  • 4th Love Ain't Just a Superficial Thing, Pam Dionne
  • 5th Sling-Shot, Joanne Clarkson

Homer Henderson, Senior High (???, Judge)

  • 1st Revelations 4:16:1, Bethany McKinnon
  • 2nd The Bus, Eleanor Sprinkle
  • 3rd Jackie, Brandon McGonigal

Betty Fukuyama, Traditional, Junior (???, Judge)

  • 1st Sestina for a Sestina, Jeffrey M. Sackmann
  • 2nd Dreaming of Running Softly as Mud River, Yemaya Maurer
  • 3rd When a Man Brings Me Ben & Jerry's, Jill Reynolds

Tom Erdmann Jr. Totem Award (???, Judge)

  • 1st In Portland on Visiting My Hospitalized Grandfather, Charlie Loyd
  • 2nd My Mother, Jeremy Davis
  • 3rd Dinner with Giuseppie, Shane Salvata

1999

We have no record of student contests for this year. If you know that WPA student contests were held in 1999, please contact us.

William Stafford, Free Verse (Mark Halperin, Judge)

  • 1st The Earliest Necessity, Robin Merigan
  • 2nd Wasp in the House, Jeanne Lohmann
  • 3rd Danitza Visits the Old Country, Kitty Todorovich

Carlin Aden, Traditional (Judith Skillman, Judge)

  • 1st The Uses of Imperfection, Ted McMahon
  • 2nd Etchings, Sharon Carter
  • 3rd Memorial Day Pantoum, Kitty Todorovich
  • HM Funeral: Rue de Cimatori, Roberta P Feins

Charlie Proctor, Humor (Clarice Keegan, Judge)

  • 1st Yet Another Story Problem, Marilyn Mashburn Lewis
  • 2nd Sex Manual, Sharon Carter
  • 3rd Gourmet's Gullion, Lois Palmlund

Bart Baxter Poetry Performance Award

  • 1st Drawing Blood, Danika Dinsmore
  • 2nd Russian Elegy, Florence Sage
  • 3rd God Damned Critics, Tom Hunley

Years:   2008 | 2000-2007 | 1990-1999 | 1980-1989 | 1972-1979
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