12 ‘o’clock poetry contest 2021

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary” – Edgar Allen Poe

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Midnight is a mystical time when the day fades into a whisper and we can glimpse into our thoughts as they float away in the still air. While many sleep at midnight, creativity awakens within the writers. The lavender glow of midnight blends with the misty air to create a fun atmosphere of mystery, wonder and adventure. The midnight silence is limitless, it paves the way for boundless creativity. This magical hour is the best for unleashing the artist within us. Through the 12 ‘o’clock poetry contest, Wingless Dreamer aimed to harness this creative energy of midnight and channel it into poems. Without any further adieu, let’s announce the winner, finalists, and contributors for this contest. Hold your breath.

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The grand winner of the contest, It’s twelve o clock is:

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PAT ASHINZE- NIGHTY NIGHT

Pat Ashinze is an Igbo-Yoruba hybrid. He is currently a finalist medical student at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. He writes within the axial stream of poetry, prose, essays, aphorisms, gizmos and whatnot. His works have been featured and are forthcoming on Arts Lounge, East End review, Mojave Heart review, Ann Arbor review, Blognostics, Vox Poetika, Terse Journal, Kairos, Dissident voice, Kalahari review and elsewhere. Pat won the Inaugural UNILORIN Students Union Poetry Prize in 2019. His nonfiction entry came second place in the ‘COVID-19 in my City’ Literary Competition organised by the Mandela Institute of Development Studies, SA in 2021. He is a three time consecutive listee on the Top 100 Nigerian students poets list organised by PIN(Poets-In-Nigeria Initiative). He was a finalist for the 2021 Stephen A. Dibiase International poetry prize. He was a finalist for the World NTDS Storytelling (Literary category) competition in 2021.

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The first runner-up is:

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TS S. FULK – THE CHOSEN ONE

TS S. Fulk lives with his wife and three children in Örebro, Sweden as an English teacher and textbook author. After getting an M.A. in English literature from the University of Toronto, he taught 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 appeared in the book Snowdrops by Wingless Dreamer.

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The second runner-up is:

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N’KANU OKOI – SHOOTING STAR

N’kanu Okoi is a student of Ebonyi State University in Nigeria and currently taking up a Master’s degree in Public Health Parasitology. Despite his discipline, Patrick is passionate about poetry and has his works published in New Horizon Creatives, Journal of African youth literature, Chasing dreams publishers, and elsewhere. He hopes his poems inspire people around the world positively.

Your works were exceptional and stands out from the crowd. Well done and keep up the high spirit.

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A huge round of applause for our top finalists:

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JESSICA CALVERT – HORN TO HORN

Jessica Calvert is a fiction editor for Ponder Review and an MFA in Creative Writing candidate at Mississippi University for Women. She has work published in Aurora and has a book of poems and short stories, Into a Dark Alley, released from Charm & Strange Press (2019). She lives in Indiana, USA with her husband, six kids, and a shapeshifting wolf-like dog named Kylo.

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SYDNEY STROLL – INSOMNIA

“Insomnia.” is a poem written by the 21-year-old creative writer, Syd Stroll. It is one of many poems that belong to her chapbook entitled, “Sonic Boom.” “Sonic Boom” is a collection of poems that are meant to simulate what it is like to have bipolar disorder. The chapbook shows a shift in each poem, much like a mood swing someone with the disorder would experience.

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SUSMITA RAMANI – AT THE STROKE OF TWELVE

Susmita Ramani’s poetry has been featured by Wingless Dreamer, Nymeria Publishing, and Mermaids Monthly. Her fiction has appeared in Pure Slush, 365 Tomorrows, The Daily Drunk, Secret Attic, 100 Words, Six Sentences, 50 Word Stories, Vine Leaves Press, The Drabble, and other publications. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, two daughters, and twelve pets.

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PAULA AMLI – THE MIDNIGHT HUSH

Dr Paula Aamli is a Humanities graduate with a Masters in Sustainability and a Doctorate in Organisational Change. Her doctoral thesis, “Working through climate grief: A first-person poetic inquiry”, explores individual and institutional responses to the emerging climate crisis, using arts-based research and poetry. Paula has had poems published in Allegro Poetry Magazine, Dissonance Magazine, and Shot Glass, a poetry journal of short verse. In her day job, Paula works with governance and sustainability in financial services, with a focus on business responsibility, good conduct and how corporations can play a positive role for and within the communities in which they are located. Paula’s greatest personal concern is attempting to process and respond to the emerging threat of climate crisis, and questions of the condition in which we will hand over the earth to future generations.

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EVA JARDINE – THE FOOL

Eva is a student at Rutgers, with a strong passion for the arts as well as spirituality.

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TAIWO HASSAN – IRONIES

Taiwo Hassan is a student of Yorùbá descent, a poet and writer. His works have been published in several print and online publications, including Liminal Transit Review, Praxis Magazine, Ice Floe Press, and Dust Poetry Magazine, to mention a few. When he’s not writing, he’s either listening to music, singing, or watching TV series.

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Great job! You’ve given a strong competition to the winner and top runner-ups. Well done. Congratulations and keep writing.

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Last but not the least, cue the confetti for our contributors: