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Nocturne Ash Writing Contest 2025
Compiling and judging Nocturne Ash has been like walking through a quiet street after midnight â the kind where every shadow seems to be watching, and youâre not sure if itâs danger or comfort you feel. These poems breathe in the dark and exhale something sharp, tender, and honest. Some are a slow ache, others hit like a sudden chill, but each one has a pulse you canât ignore.
What I love most is how the darkness here feels lived-in. Itâs not made-up monsters or cheap scares â itâs grief youâve carried, fears youâve wrestled, and moments you didnât have words for until now. These poets found those words. And they didnât just write them down â they bled them onto the page. This is a book that will haunt and linger long after it has been read.
Warm regards,
Pooja Vishwanathan
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Nocturne Ash: Laureates of the Night đ€đ„
đ€ Friends of the dark, the momentâs here â to honour the poets who stepped into the shadows and came back carrying fire. đ
This yearâs pages were heavy with smoke and memory. Some poems cut quick and deep, others crept in slow, staying long after the last word. Each one had its own way of breathing in the dark, but a few refused to let go, even after the book closed. Those are the voices we name tonight.
Now the embers have cooled, leaving only the fine grey ash that clings to your hands. From it, these poets rise â fierce, haunting, unforgettable. And so, the crown of Nocturne Ash belongs to⊠đđŻ
MARIA CHETCHOKINA - The Girls Who Looked Too Long At The Moon
Maria Chechotkina is a young poet whose work explores themes of grief, girlhood, myth, mental illness, and transformation. Deeply inspired by her mother, writer Ksenia Okskaya, she discovered a love for language early on. Her poetry is both intimate and mythic, weaving survival and identity into a lyrical tapestry of memory, nature, and feminine power. She is currently working on her debut collection.
CODY CREIGER - Thirteenth Graveyard Slumber
Cody Creiger is a Spain born Dominican writer who has lived most of his life in a small city in Canada. Heâs always enjoyed reading and writing and is also very competitive in sports. He loves to play with friends whenever he gets the chance.
"Thirteenth Graveyard Slumberâ â A piece that moves like fog between headstones, slow and certain, carrying the weight of dreams youâre not sure you want to wake from. Codyâs imagery is rich and unsettling, the kind that makes you feel the damp earth and hear the quiet shift of soil. Itâs a poem that doesnât just tell a story â it lays it to rest and leaves you standing there in the silence.
ALEX ANDY PHUONG - Hauntingly Beautiful Performance
Alex Andy Phuong earned his Bachelor of Arts in English from California State UniversityâLos 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, âAudition (The Fools Who Dream)â from the âBest Pictureâ nominee La Land (2016). His poetry collection is An Altruistic (Cyberwit.net, 2020).
Currently residing in Alhambra, California, he now writes with the sincerest hope to inspire readers while fully supporting the ones who dare to pursue their dreams. The link to his blog is http://alexandyphuongengl492playlist.blogspot.com/
"Hauntingly Beautiful Performance" â Some poems ask to be read. This one feels like it should be watched in candlelight, the air still, every word landing like the slow fall of petals onto stone. Our third winner Alex doesnât just write â he stages a scene, draws the curtain, and lets silence carry the weight between lines. The effect is delicate, eerie, and impossible to shake.
Our runner-ups brought their own kind of fire to the anthology â the kind that doesnât flash once and vanish, but keeps burning low in the corner. Each piece had its own pull đ, some hitting fast like a sudden crack of thunder, others moving slow, spreading like shadow đŻ. They didnât take the crown , but their words stuck, the way smoke sticks to your clothes after the fireâs gone .
Thanks to each of them for reminding us that darkness isnât just one thing â itâs layered, alive, and full of stories worth telling .
TOP FINALISTS:
OMAR KHALIFAH
"I am nobody! Who are you? Are you -Nobody -Too? ".
WEDNESDAE REIM IFRACH
Wednesdae is a poet and art therapist who has worked with the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art. They have a forthcoming book on Expressive Art Therapy and Body Image and spend their free time watching horror movies and learning about the Occult.
BENNINGFIELD Ă CONCHOBHAIR
Benningfield Ă Conchobhair is a playwright-turned-poet and an amateur ornithologist. When he isn't writing poems about birds, he creates multimedia collages and maps.
ALHASAN ZAHER
Alhasan Zaher is a Syrian writer with an M.Sc. degree in Plant Biotechnology. Residing in Germany since 2021, Zaher has been writing since the age of 9. He is known for his ability to explore philosophical themes in an engaging and thought-provoking manner. His debut poetry collection, "The Revolution of Details", was vanity-published in Syria in 2020. His short story "The Vitruvian Time" was published through print on demand model in Germany in 2024. Driven by the challenge of understanding human nature and through translating complex ideas and emotions into relatable words, Zaher brings fundamental questions to light through unique phrases and unorthodox ideas.
His poetry is often described as dark and emotionally challenging, with shocking twists and endings. âŠ
Social Media: Instagram: Alhasan Zaher https://www.instagram.com/alhassanzaher?igsh=Nm0xd2lpNzZ4cWI3 Facebook: Alhasan Zaher https://www.facebook.com/share/1ZyqwUJmnk/
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