Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award Winners for 2017

The Poetry Center at PCCC has selected the winning poems for the 2017 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards.

First Prize: Howard Berelson, Teaneck, NJ, “Last Night” and Robert A. Rosenbloom, Bound Brook, NJ, “Dear Amy”

Second Prize: Eileen Van Hook, Wanaque, NJ “Thanksgiving Memory”

Third Prize: Phillipa Scott, West Orange, NJ, “Hoboken, 1990”


Honorable Mention:
Eric Berlin, Baldwinsville, NY, “The Binding”
Roberta Bisgyer, Stamford, CT, “pretty is as pretty does”
Gina Bortolussi, Haworth, NJ, “Barnes Avenue”
R. Bremner, Glen Ridge, NJ, “Uncle Harold and Uncle Raymond”
Gil Fagiani, L.I.C., NY, “Passing”
Christopher Fahy, Thomaston, ME, “Departure”
Carlos Andrés Gómez, Forest Hills, NY, ”The Afternoon You Moved Out”
Eric Greinke, Rockford, Michigan, “Paternity”
James D. Gwyn, Clifton, NJ, ”My Father Plays the Trombone”
M.J. Harris, Upper Montclair, NJ, “Humanity”
Josh Humphrey, Kearny, NJ, “River Jumpers”
Leah Johnston, Montclair, NJ, “The Old Photo”
Adele Kenny, Fanwood, NJ, “The Way”
Barbara Krasner, Somerset, NJ, “Because I’m Jewish”
Leonard Kress, Bloomingdale, NJ, “I Was There Before I Wasn’t”
Stuart Leonard, Garwood, NJ, ”Liberty Halves”
Antoinette Libro, Sea Isle City, NJ, “Diner Daydreams”
Elizabeth Marchitti, Totowa, NJ, “My Sister Doesn’t Write Poems”
Pat Mottola, Cheshire, CT, "I Go Back”
John Smith, Frenchtown, NJ, “Would Be Sam”
Carole Stone, Verona, NJ, “Being Old”
Muriel Harris Weinstein, Great Neck, NY, “Momma’s Last Stand”
Sherida Yoder, North Haledon, NJ, “As Usual”

Editor’s Choice:
Donna L. Emerson, Petaluma, CA, “Shining Brown Hair”
Maria Fama, Philadelphia, PA, “Cu Gesù Mi Curcu”
Nancy Lubarsky, Cranford, NJ, ”Origin Story”
Kenneth Silvestri, Nyack, NY, “The fate of my maternal side”
Al Tacconelli, Wynnewood, PA, “Surprise Pizzelle”
Kelly Terwilliger, Eugene, OR, “Some Winter”
Neal Zirn, Denver, CO, “Don’t Tell Anyone I’m in Mensa”

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The Poetry Center awards four literary prizes each year. For information on the prizes, rules, and deadlines, see poetrycenterpccc.com

1. Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards - three prizes for unpublished poems
2. Paterson Poetry Prize - for a book of poems published in the previous year
3. Paterson Prize For Books for Young People - awarded to books published in the previous year in the following categories: Pre-K-Grade 3, Grades 4-6 and Grades 7-12
4. Paterson Fiction Prize - for a novel or collection of short fiction published in the previous year