It is with great excitement that we announce the winning poems in the 2024 Kim Bridgford Memorial Sonnet Contest: Individual Sonnet winner “Calling Hours at the Funeral Home”by Jean L. Kreiling, and Sonnet Crown winner “Roughly True” by Barbara Lydecker Crane. They each will be awarded a prize of $500 and are invited to read the pieces in May at Poetry by the Sea 2024.
As we announce the winners, we do so with gratitude to Dan Albergotti for serving as the contest’s final judge, as well as to all the writers whose enthusiasm made this contest possible through their submission of traditional sonnets and artful variations that pushed the boundaries of the form. Thank you for submitting your fine work. The competition was stiff, and all submissions were judged anonymously.
Please join us in congratulating the winners, as well the poets whose impressive work made the shortlist!
INDIVIDUAL SONNET
FIRST PRIZE: “Calling Hours at the Funeral Home” by Jean L. Kreiling
Shortlist of Individual Sonnets
“Calling Hours at the Funeral Home” by Jean L. Kreiling (FIRST PLACE WINNER)
“Winter Amnesia” by Liz Ahl (HONORABLE MENTION)
“Gethsemane” by Elijah Perseus Blumov (HONORABLE MENTION)
“Catch” by Gregory Calabro (HONORABLE MENTION)
“Icons” by Barbara Lydecker Crane
“Maria Belville to Her Daughter, 1892” by Daniel Galef
“My Shot at Jesus” by Rick Mullin
“The Invention of the Sword” by Benjamin Cannicott Shavitz
“AI Comes Courting” by Gail White
SONNET CROWN:
FIRST PRIZE: “Roughly True” by Barbara Lydecker Crane
Shortlist of Sonnet Crowns
“Roughly True” by Barbara Lydecker Crane (FIRST PRIZE WINNER)
“Wissahickon Stories: A Timescape” by Mia Schilling Grogan (HON. MENTION)
“Number Seven Will Surprise You” by Arthur Goikhman
“Portraits of Transwomen Sonnet Crown” by Isabel Grey
“Pastoral Pastoral” by Mia Schilling Grogan
“The Erotic Landscape” by Burt Myers
Thank you again to this year’s contest judge, Dan Albergotti, and to all the poets who helped make this year’s contest a success!