After a streak of rejections, it seems I’ve begun a cadence of good luck. Florida State Poets Association (FSPA) recently announced winners for their annual poetry contests, and I had the good fortune to receive first place for the Poet’s Vision Award, which sought a poem on faith and/or spirituality. I also received honorable mentions for a haibun, limerick, and what’s been called a post-modernistish free verse poem in other categories.
The society’s anthology, Cadence 2024, which includes winning contest poems and other poetry, is now available. You’ll find my poem “agnostication” in this collection. Yes, I’m coining words again with this title. (In case you missed it, here’s the scoop on my other made-up-word titled poem “complatency.”) While not ekphrastic, Life of Pi sparked this cheeky yet heartfelt rhyming poem. You can get full contest results here.
Other Poets to Love in This Edition
I feel fortunate to be included in this anthology with so many fellow poets from Florida and beyond:
- FSPA Northwest Florida Writers chapter members (most of whom are poetry workshop buddies) Katherine Nelson-Born, Mary Gutierrez, Carolyn Joyce Tokson, Andrea Jones Walker, Lori Zavada, and Claire Massey, along with Orlando-based Diane Neff. This chapter is also affiliated with Emerald Coast Writers.
- Check out Claire’s book, Driver Side Window: Poems and Prose. Proceeds go to Florida Wildlife Federation, a non-profit working hard to preserve wild places. Claire is also the poetry editor for the national, quarterly print magazine, The Pen Woman.
- Diane, a former professor, college dean, and US Navy officer (now an adult program librarian in Florida’s Seminole County Public Library System) has had poetry published in many anthologies and (fun fact!) has poems on public display at the Orlando International Airport and the Orange County (Florida) Administration Building.
- “Write On!” workshop leader Elaine Person and pal Kit Schmeiser (Kit, based in Asheville, NC, is also a fiber and mixed media artist). Try one of Elaine’s workshops! Kit and I both drafted poems receiving HM’s in a Write On! session.
- Current and former Poetry Society of Tennessee members Jonathan Bennett, Lela Buis, Stephanie DuPont, and Sara Gipson. And congrats to Lorraine Jeffery, Dr. Emory Jones, and Daniel Moreschi for receiving a prize or honorable mention in the society’s contests.
About Florida State Poets Association and Cadence
The Florida State Poets Association was founded in 1974. Their mission is to secure a fuller public recognition of the art of poetry, to stimulate a finer and more intelligent appreciation of poetry, and to provide opportunities to study and practice writing and reading poetry. They accomplish this through an ever-expanding network of FSPA chapters. In addition to chapter activities, the association holds events and contests. They publish Cadence annually and also publish a bi-monthly newsletter, Of Poets and Poetry, which is published in print and online. Learn more.
The association has published their poetry anthology, Cadence, for 42 years. The 2024 edition of the anthology features the poetry of FSPA’s poetry chancellors and category winners from the association’s national poetry contests. Purchase your copy of Cadence 2024 here.