Awards

The Denton Poetry Assembly at the Poetry Society of Texas Annual Awards Banquet 2025

Poetry Society of Texas Annual Awards Banquet 2025

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Every year I have so much fun at the Annual Awards Banquet for the Poetry Society of Texas. In 2025, it was no different. Most of my poet friends live not so close, so it’s always a great chance to hang out with my poet people and share perspectives.

This year, I managed to win six awards for my poems, which turned out to be the most of anyone attending. There was one poet who lives in another state and won eight awards this year. I had two winning poems about astronomical phenomenon (from my, as of yet, unpublished poetry collection of the same theme), and two winning poems on the topic of kindness. Of the other two wining poems, one was about parenting and the grand canyon, while the other was a short one about city architecture. Lastly, in my favorite bit of news, my manuscript Roots Through Stone won second place in the Catherine Case Lubbe Manuscript Contest. So close! Maybe next year.

My fellow poets and friends of the Denton Poetry Assembly did quite well, winning numerous awards among them (including the winner of the manuscript contest, Cade Huie).

The Poetry Society of Texas Annual Awards Banquet 2024 – Poets & Poems

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I was lucky enough to attend the Poetry Society of Texas Annual Awards Banquet again this year. It’s a lot of fun chatting with other Texas poets and hearing most of the wining poems being read. I was more than happy to take home three awards this year for my poems “ring” (that explores the symbolism of the wedding ring), “two towers twenty-three years” (about 9/11), and “the film” (about the movies, of course!) While 98% of the poems I send out to journals and contests were written in the last five years, I have a few still strong poems from my graduate days that I include. “The film” is one of those few poems. So happy to have it rewarded! It really reinforces the idea that there is an audience out there for all good art. Often you just have to find the right one.

Listening, Lunching and Meeting With the Poetry Society of Texas

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Recently, I got the chance to attend the 2023 Annual Awards Dinner for the Poetry Society of Texas for this first time. It’s always great fun to hang out with fellow poets. I met several writers from the Denton and Mockingbird chapters and got to hear a lot of great poetry.

All of the first place winners in attendance were asked to read their winning poems. I read my poem “what one can see in the dark,” which won The Susan Maxwell Campbell Prize. The name of this prize changes each year and is judged by the previous year’s winner. So next year, I’ll have the opportunity to judge The Corbett Buchly Prize! How fun is that? All of the winning poems will be published in the Poetry Society of Texas Book of the Year.

I thought the best poem of the night was by Diane Glancy, who I now know has had a wonderfully successful career writing and teaching poetry. Of course, I had to buy one of her many books. I’m looking forward with excitement to that arriving. And I look forward to next year’s Poetry Society of Texas event.