The Wingless Dreamer presents a new poetry contest fresh from our editorial table called Growth in Grief.
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We all experience grief that clutches every waking moment of our life, we hold this grief and sink into a dark abyss. A point arrives where we feel that all hope is abandoned and the meaning of life has lost its worth. Yet, over time, we manage to carry our grief within us like it is a lost child and we learn to grow with it.
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Dark poetry holds a melancholic feeling, but also a silver lining of hope. This season the Wingless Dreamer Publisher provides a platform for participants to pour their grief into words such that it shines eventually. Through this contest, Growth in Grief we want you to express instances in life when you experienced grief that helped you to grow eventually. You can also write about complex feelings of false hope, despair, melancholy, and resilience in the form of a poem. Participants are encouraged to craft their experiences in a unique and artistic manner.
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Please make sure to read the judging criteria and the terms and conditions before submitting your work. Here are our Terms and Conditions.
Poetry Contest
Benefits:
Participating in this contest, Growth in Grief will enable your work to be recognised and shared with a larger audience.
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The deadline for this contest is 28th February 2023.
Judging Criteria
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Uniqueness – 50%
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Creativity/Style and Originality – 30%
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The coherence of form and structure (harmony of words, presentation) – 10%
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Clarity of imagery and language – 10% => TOTAL – 100%
Rules and Guidelines:
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Submissions are invited through Submittable.com, winglessdreamer.com or via mail submit@winglessdreamer.com
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The entry fees will be waived for the first 50 submitters.
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For mail submission kindly pay $5 submission fees at https://www.paypal.me/winglessdreamerin
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Entries must be entirely your own work.
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Entrants must be at least 18 years of age.
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All manuscripts should include a cover page including the title of the submission, a brief bio (max 150 words) and contact information. Writers must submit one entry per submission.
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The acceptable submissions must be extended with .pdf, .docx, and .doc only.
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The Manuscripts should be formatted in an easy-to-read font such as Times New Roman, 12pt with 1.15 line spacing.
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All submissions are final and no changes can be made once they have been submitted.
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Entries will be judged by the author and founder of Wingless Dreamer Ruchi Acharya and Suhani Harpara.
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Any entries found to be violent, abusive, harassing or discriminating will be disqualified and entrance fees will not be refunded.
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The result will be announced on our website www.winglessdreamer.com at the month of February’s end.
March 2, 2023 | Wingless Dreamer | Announcements
“There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief.”
– Aeschylus
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​​Greif is a complex feeling. Greif is characterised as profound sorrow, especially brought on by death, although grief is the response to any form of loss, regardless of whether the person’s sorrow is brought on by the death of a loved one. We at Wingless Dreamer have warmly accepted the poems written by numerous individuals expressing their sorrow for times past and present. We want to express our gratitude to all of our contributors because we highly valued each and every work that was sent in. Hence, we’re glad to finally announce the poetry competition’s final results for ‘Growth in Grief’.
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The grand champion of the ‘Growth in Grief’ Poetry Contest 2023 is…
Yariel Luna – Brutus
Alec Luna is a BIPOC Poet currently based in Milford CT. His works have been have been well-received by readers all across the world.
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The first runner-up is:
Sarkis Antonyan – ‘Father Gone’
Sarkis Antonyan is an eighteen-year-old poet and artist from Los Angeles, California. His work has appeared in Peach Magazine, Olit, Revolute, H-pem, Prometheus Dreaming, Pollux Journal, and elsewhere. An alumna of the Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship Program and a poetry reader at The Adroit Journal, he spends his time admiring the color yellow, brewing peach tea, and knitting.
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The second runner-up is:
Alex Phuong – ‘Precious Silver Lining’
Alex Andy Phuong earned his Bachelor of Arts in English from California State University—Los Angeles in 2015. He was a former Statement Magazine editor who currently writes about literature, film, and culture. He also earned an Associate of Arts in English from Pasadena City College in 2013 and tutored there. He has written hundreds of film reviews for MovieBoozer, and has contributed articles to Mindfray.
His writing has appeared in The Bookends Review and The Society of Classical Poets. Emma Stone inspired Alex to submit writing actively to publications after hearing the Oscar-nominated song, “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” from the “Best Picture” nominee La La Land (2016).
His poetry collection is An Altruistic (Cyberwit.net, 2020). Currently residing in Alhambra, California, he now writes with the sincerest hope of inspiring readers while fully supporting the ones who dare to pursue their dreams. The link to his blog is http://alexandyphuongengl492playlist.blogspot.com/
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And of course, not to forget our lovely Finalists –
Mario Jañez – ‘Chasing the Urn of The Sun’
Psychology student in England of 19-years of age, with an inspiration on writing poetry and fiction concerned with the themes of horror, speculative fantasy, mystery, and thrillers. Concerned with portraying emotion in my work, through words. This varies from grief and pain to euphoria and anger. This poem is about the death of my late grandma and how despite sadness she would have wanted me to keep going.
Contact info:
Gmail: majanezmartin@gmail.com
Instragram: mariojanex
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Darren Stein – ‘Visiting the Cemetry’
Darren Stein is an Australian poet who teaches English and the vicissitudes of life at a public high school on Sydney’s north shore. He has published three books, the most recent titled “Stop all the clocks”, along with “Storage Space” and “The Nut House Poems.” His wife, Rikki, recently passed away from an incurable illness called Multiple Systems Atrophy. He has two children.
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Samuel Cole – ‘Final Chore’
Samuel E. Cole lives in Woodbury, MN. He is a flash fiction enthusiast, a political junkie, and poet. His work has appeared in myriad literary magazines and journals, and he has had five books published: two poetry collections and three short story collections.
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Alec Luna – ‘Brutus’
Alec Luna is a BIPOC Poet currently based in Milford CT. His works have been well-received by readers across the world.
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Marla Vivoda – ‘The Hanging Tree’
Marla Vivoda teaches at Pikes Peak State College and Pueblo Community College. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts at Colorado State University-Ft. Collins. Ms. V. has one nonfiction book, no longer in print: Get Money, Get Real and poems in various publications, some: Tempered Steel, Dos Gatos Press, and Wingless Dreamer.
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Kanishka Kataria – ‘The System’
Kanishka Kataria (She/Her) is a girl of vision and power who possesses the immense strength to transform the world with her articulation. Grown and brought up in New Delhi, India, she is a writer and orator who strives to drive the world toward exhilaration and liberty. She is recognized by 30+ organizations for her work in literature, social issues, and scientific research. She brings the best of herself and holds faith in the universe to render back the vibrations of concern and appreciation.
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Bryan Andrew Nguyen – ‘Graverobber’
Bryan Andrew Nguyen is a recovering survivor of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He is based in Jersey City, New Jersey, and his work also appears in Mistake House. When he’s not writing, he enjoys the quiet comforts of his friends and the warmth of still existing.
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J Sweeting – ‘The Chasm of Grief’
J. M. Sweeting is a Colorado native, a preschool teacher, and printmaker. She has a deep love for writing, reading multiple books at a time, venturing into the Rockies, and finding beauty in the small things.
Instagram: @j.m.sweeting
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Rodney Francisco – ‘Archipelago’
Rod is a writer from sub-tropical Central Queensland who has an avid collection of folders and journals filled with half-finished works, concepts, and ideas. Writing for personal enjoyment and reflection than anything else, Rod has engaged in a range of different styles in poetry, short stories, and scripts; some of which have been longlisted, shortlisted, and published. In 2022, Rod had short stories shortlisted for the Evesham Festival of Words [UK] and the Fellowship of Australian Writers Queensland Maureen Freer Literary prize. Additionally, he has had over a dozen poems shortlisted and published, including two works in the Western Australia Poets Inc 2022 Poetry d’Amour Love Poetry Anthology and one piece in the Fellowship of Australian Writers New South Wales Jean Stone Award. He has multiple poems published with Wingless Dreamer across an array of themes.
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Adesiyan Oluwapelum – ‘A Space for Void’
Adesiyan Oluwapelumi, TPC XI, is the winner of the Cheshire White Ribbon Day Creative Competition, an Honorable Mention recipient in the Coexist Lit International Metamorphosis Writing Contest and a finalist in the WeNaija Literary Contest. He writes to explore the intersectionality between memory, language, identity, religion and selfhood. Some of his works are published/forthcoming in Poetry Wales, IHRAF, Kissing Dynamite, IceFloe Press, Eunoia Review, African Writer Magazine, Brittle Paper, Lumiere Review among many other publications and anthologies. He reads poetry for the Five South and the Kitchen Table Quarterly. He stans Timi Sanni & tweets @ademindpoems.
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Erika B. Girard – ‘Losing a Pinky Toe’
Erika B. Girard is currently pursuing her M.A. in English and Creative Writing with a concentration in Poetry through SNHU. Originally from Rhode Island, she derives creative inspiration from her family, friends, faith, and fascination with human experience. She is a proofreader for Wild Roof Journal, an online literary journal with issues published bimonthly. Her own creative work appears or is forthcoming in The Alembic, Iris Literary Journal, Untenured, Viewless Wings, and more.
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Alyssa Ray – ‘Goodbyes Are Never Enough’
Alyssa Ray (A. Ray) pours personal life experiences and all-the-feelings-felt-at-once into tangible sentences to show what it’s like to be mentally ill – and occasionally hating it – But learning to live with it and love life anyway.
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Congrats to everyone who submitted work and was included in our anthology! I’m so proud of all our fantastic writers!
On our website, you can now place a pre-order for the book. Beginning on February 28, 2023, we will ship out every order that has been received. It will soon be accessible via Amazon.com.
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Kind Regards,
Samuel P A Robertson
– Senior Editor at ‘Wingless Dreamer’