The grand winner of the contest is

1. T.S. FULK - AWAITING PERSEPHONE

TS S. Fulk, a neurodiverse English teacher and textbook author, lives with his neurodiverse family in Sweden. After getting a B.A. in Music and M.A.T. Secondary Education: English from Kent State University and an M.A. in English literature from the University of Toronto, he taught English in Prague, CZ before settling down in Sweden. Besides teaching and writing, TS S. Fulk is an active musician playing bass trombone, the Appalachian mountain dulcimer and the Swedish bumblebee dulcimer (hummel). His poetry has been (or will be) published by numerous presses including The Light Ekphrastic, The Button Eye Review, The Fairy Tale Magazine, Journ-E, The Red Ogre Review, Perennial Press, Lovecraftiana and Wingless Dreamer. Instagram: @tssfulk_poet Website: www.island-of-wak-wak.com

The first runner-up is:

2. HANNAH BUB - BIRDSONG

Hannah Bub writes both poetry and fiction. You can find some of her work in October Hill Magazine (2018, 2023), Wingless Dreamer (Praised by December Anthology), and the Greene Street Review.

The second runner-up is:

3. EMMA WELLS- HELIOTROPE

Emma is a mother and English teacher. She has poetry published with various literary journals and magazines. She enjoys writing flash fiction and short stories also. Emma won Wingless Dreamer’s Bird Poetry Contest of 2022 and her short story entitled ‘Virginia Creeper’ was selected as a winning title by WriteFluence Singles Contest in 2021. Her first novel is entitled Shelley’s Sisterhood which is due to be published in late 2023.

Here are our top finalists:

4. MARLA VIVODA - ADAMS NAMES THEM IN SOUTHWEST EDEN

Marla Vivoda teaches at Pikes Peak State College and Pueblo Community College. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts at Colorado State University-Ft. Collins. Ms. V. has one nonfiction book, no longer in print: Get Money, Get Real and poems in various publications, some: Tempered Steel, Dos Gatos Press, and Wingless Dreamer.

5. LEANNE VANVALKENBURGH - CHERRY BLOSSOMS

I am a female from Florida via Michigan. I teach English and social studies for 8th and 9th graders. I am going on my 16th year of teaching. I just recently began posting my writing and entering contests. I have always written poems, songs, short stories, but they just ended up on a file and was eventually forgotten about, but this summer I have spent time expanding this side of my life. I really don't do social media. I have found more peace without it. Anyway, this is challenging because the least thing I like to write about it is myself.

6. GRATIA SERPENTO - I AM ME

Gratia Serpento is an Oregonian poet who loves watching Star Wars, reading novels, and eating food. All the food. She has had works published with Wingless Dreamer, BUBBLE Literary Magazine, The Graveyard Zine, among others. When she's not writing, you can usually find Gratia on Instagram (@poet_serpento).

7. ANJU JHA - SIGNS OF RESURRECTION

Anju Jha has published her debut collection of poetry, Specks of Epiphanies, on Amazon. It presents a gamut of universal themes representing love, loss, hope and resilience. Anju is a public servant in a large federal government agency and has recently completed a short creative writing course and a poetry workshop at Sydney University with Mark Tredinnick, an Australian poet, essayist, and teacher. She is currently studying Master of Creative Writing at Macquarie University in Sydney. Her short story, ‘Spring Sonata’, will appear shortly in Flash Fiction Magazine. Additionally, her poem, ‘Breaking The Walls of Silence’ has been accepted for publication in Meniscus Literary Journal (Volume 11, Issue 1 2023). Find her on Instagram: @poems_by_anju.jha