National Federation of State Poetry Societies

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF STATE POETRY SOCIETIES
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NFSPS Annual Poetry Contest
Prize-winning poems chosen from more than 6,000 submissions are featured in the 2022 edition of Encore. The annual anthology of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies features the top 159 poems from winners across the U.S. and the world. Our fifty contests challenged poets to write in a variety of forms, such as villanelle, golden shovel, rondeau, and haibun. They also interpret wide-ranging subjects like the geography of fire, loss of a child, listening, power of women, and daily rituals. The addition of three categories for high school and elementary school students adds another layer to the volume's diversity. Encore 2022 opens with a three-page, $1,000 winning poem by Lou Jones of Georgia and closes with a three-line haiku by fourth-grader Tiffany Zhou of Iowa. Cover to cover, the anthology offers the uniqueness of many voices and styles for you to explore.

C. U. P. Competpetition
Edna Meudt Memorial
Ragweed Body by Ingrid Piña is a beautiful collection that weaves the natural world with generational magic and traumas, a map of a neighborhood, a childhood, and of everyday life. These poems read like songs, like arias, and stay with us like ragweed. Form and function wriggle down the page like a ballet of words and breaks, giving voice to motion and meaning. Danelle Lejeune poetry editor at Wraparound South

C. U. P. Competition
Kahn Memorial
Melanin Sun (-) Blind Spots by Danae Younge is a complex work, written with exquisite craft, tackling a not-easy-to-talk-about series of subjects. Shining a light on the intersection in which we the readers are asked to sit with her for a moment, she skillfully crafts with strikeouts and redactions, leaving us sometimes to guess what has been stricken and other times creating an emphasis on what we are not supposed to talk about. This is a technique many poets shy from, but Younge paints these words beautifully, carving out a place for herself on this generation's shelves.Danelle Lejeune poetry editor at Wraparound South

Stevens Manuscript
Petrichor is a powerful collection of honest poems declaring the power of resilience. They are filled with fresh, engaging imagery that holds the tension between beauty and harsh truths. Nancy Hengeveld takes us into the life of a woman with a son in prison, an abusive husband, and her challenges in beginning again. When she is “gasping behind the bathroom door waiting for the deep voice the pounding,” we feel fear. When she finds solace, so do we: “I came to see the firmness of marble, carvings on oak, curves of arches and windows, to feel the space between my head and the ceiling.”

BlackBerryPeach

The Blackberry Peach awards are for
written and spoken prize winning poems
selected in a national competition annually
by the National Federation of State Poetry
Societies (NFSPS). This book contains the
four prize winners in written and spoken
poetry for 2022.

NFSPS Annual Poetry Contest	Prize-winning poems chosen from more than 6,000 submissions are featured in the 2022 edition of Encore. The annual anthology of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies features the top 159 poems from winners across the U.S. and the world. Our fifty contests challenged poets to write in a variety of forms, such as villanelle, golden shovel, rondeau, and haibun. They also interpret wide-ranging subjects like the geography of fire, loss of a child, listening, power of women, and daily rituals. The addition of three categories for high school and elementary school students adds another layer to the volume's diversity. Encore 2022 opens with a three-page, $1,000 winning poem by Lou Jones of Georgia and closes with a three-line haiku by fourth-grader Tiffany Zhou of Iowa. Cover to cover, the anthology offers the uniqueness of many voices and styles for you to explore.

C. U. P. Competpetition Edna Meudt Memorial	Ragweed Body by Ingrid Piña is a beautiful collection that weaves the natural world with generational magic and traumas, a map of a neighborhood, a childhood, and of everyday life. These poems read like songs, like arias, and stay with us like ragweed. Form and function wriggle down the page like a ballet of words and breaks, giving voice to motion and meaning. Danelle Lejeune poetry editor at Wraparound South
C. U. P. Competition Kahn Memorial	Melanin Sun (-) Blind Spots by Danae Younge is a complex work, written with exquisite craft, tackling a not-easy-to-talk-about series of subjects. Shining a light on the intersection in which we the readers are asked to sit with her for a moment, she skillfully crafts with strikeouts and redactions, leaving us sometimes to guess what has been stricken and other times creating an emphasis on what we are not supposed to talk about. This is a technique many poets shy from, but Younge paints these words beautifully, carving out a place for herself on this generation's shelves.Danelle Lejeune poetry editor at Wraparound South
Stevens Manuscript	Petrichor is a powerful collection of honest poems declaring the power of resilience. They are filled with fresh, engaging imagery that holds the tension between beauty and harsh truths. Nancy Hengeveld takes us into the life of a woman with a son in prison, an abusive husband, and her challenges in beginning again. When she is “gasping behind the bathroom door waiting for the deep voice the pounding,” we feel fear. When she finds solace, so do we: “I came to see the firmness of marble, carvings on oak, curves of arches and windows, to feel the space between my head and the ceiling.”