Decembré Poetry contest

Winter encultures all the magical moments in the year. With the crispy air and Monday blues, we can crawl up with a book and enjoy the view of a white wonderland. As the winter breeze dances around us, time stands still, and we can feel the peace within us.

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This year for our winter anthology we received numerous winter poems from all around the world and after giving plenty of time to each submission, we eventually got down to a shortlist of 54. These 54 submissions stand out from the crowd and are exceptional on their own. These poems electrify and surprise us, show an accomplished understanding of craft, and tell us something viscerally honest about the experience of being alive. Winner or not we would like to congratulate all 54 contributors for making it to our anthology. You’ve done a brilliant job. Well done!

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Without any further ado, let’s announce the winner. The grand winner of the Wingless Dreamer Decembré Poetry Contest 2021 is:

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SHAMIR KALI GRIFFIN – YUUGEN (TRANQUIL BEAUTY)

Shamir Kali Griffin is the Central Valley Favorite Author award winner of 2014, for his first collection of poetry Identity in Shades (2013.) In 2019 Griffin went on a successful California statewide tour for his book Funeral Cry Lusa (2018). In 2021 Griffin was invited to lead a spotlight event for California State University, Fresno’s Black History Month events as well as speak on the keynotes of the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, sexuality, and gender using poetry. Griffin is from Oakland, CA of mixed African American, Native American (Choctaw, Creek, Blackfoot), Irish, and English descent. Follow him at Instagram.com/choctawrey and Facebook.com/choctawrey

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Beat the drums. The first runner-up is:

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RC DEWINTER – SOMEWHERE, THE SUN

RC deWinter’s poetry is widely anthologized, notably in New York City Haiku (NY Times, 2/2017), Coffin Bell Two (3/2020), Healing Felines and Femmes, (Other Worldly Women Press, 12/2020), Now We Heal: An Anthology of Hope, (Wellworth Publishing, 12/2020) in print: 2River, Event, Gargoyle Magazine, Green Ink, Meat For Tea: The Valley Review, the Minnesota review, Night Picnic Journal, Prairie Schooner, Southword, The York Literary Review among others and appears in numerous online literary journals.

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The second runner-up is:

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STEVE GERSON – REFLECTING

Steve Gerson writes poetry and flash about life’s dissonance and dynamism. He’s proud to have published in Panoplyzine, Route 7, Poets Reading the News, Crack the Spine, Montana Mouthful, the Decadent Review, Indolent, Rainbow Poems, Snapdragon, the Underwood Press, Wingless Dreamer, Gemini Ink, the Dillydoun Review, In Parentheses, and more.

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Here are our top finalists:

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D.E. RITTERBUSCH – WIFE IN WINTER

D. E. Ritterbusch is the author of Tipping Point, Lessons Learned: Poetry of the Vietnam War and Its Aftermath and Far From the Temple of Heaven. He was twice selected to be the Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of English & Fine Arts at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He recently retired as a Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater, and his creative work is currently being archived in the Special Collections on the imaginative representations of the Vietnam War at La Salle University.

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CHRISTINA E. PETRIDES – LIFE STORY

An American expatriate, Christina E. Petrides lives and works on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. More than three scores of her poems have appeared in various periodicals over the last three years. Her first children’s book, Blueberry Man, was published in 2020 by Tchaikovsky Family Books. Her website is: www.christinaepetrides.com

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LISA OWENS – PAIN, MY SAVIOR

Lisa Owens is a poet from St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Her work can be found in publications by Quillkeepers Press, Poets Choice, Tiny Seed Journal, Plants & Poetry Journal, Bluing the Blade Literary Journal, and Epoch Literary Journal (forthcoming).

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CANDY EATON – THE WOMEN’S DREAMS DIED

Candy Eaton is a nurse, a veteran, a volunteer firefighter, a grandmother, and a professional writer.

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THOMAS OSATCHOFF – NON–

Thomas Osatchoff, together with family, is building a self-sustaining home near a waterfall. Recent work has appeared in Arteidolia, The Concrete Desert Review, WinglessDreamer, and elsewhere.

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Cue the confetti for our amazing contributors who made our judges and the editorial team quite awestruck by their work: