Poetry NOW Poetry FOREVER Contest

April 1, 2025

The best poetry is both timely and timeless — it reflects the attitudes and culture of our times and also connects us to a collective past. Poems can ask questions without giving answers. They can capture the spirit of a specific moment. They can make us uncomfortable and confront ugly truths. They help us understand what it means to be human, living our wild and precious lives on this planet.

Winning Entries

Here are the poems that reflect our world that were the winners of our Poetry NOW. Poetry FOREVER Contest.

An international student, detained by ICE in Minneapolis, buys lilies for Easter brunch

By Sook Jin Ong 翁淑君 ● June 23, 2025

I want to walk to the grocery store, the one that gives me that big box experience, to pick out lilies, berries, and hot cross buns. April is approaching, and

My Mother Smoking a Cigar

By Loren Niemi ● June 23, 2025

It was on her 80th birthday That I offered and she accepted A Cuban. Her first. Her last. It was Mother’s Day And I had come to plant flowers To

Fighting B(l)ack Pain

By Davida Kilgore ● June 23, 2025

no gain no pain in the ass fast forward 2 inflammation swelling inflammatory response telling the body you hurt real bad pain prowls sidelines lounging hard words scrounging up adjectives

Upon learning that an angler fish is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand,

By Kait Quinn ● June 23, 2025

I finger the hard knob, now slightly larger than a pea, beneath the flesh of my right forearm, which the doctor told me was nothing to worry over, but now

How the Body Wears Its Sorrows

By Joshua Preston ● June 23, 2025

limbs like vines reach for sky but find only themselves to climb the arms make a ring the legs step through & twisting bending writhing a man ties himself into

Alive in the Mississippi River Valley:

By Marge Barrett ● June 23, 2025

bald eagle rises, climbs, settles atop an immense nest; cormorant; peregrine falcon; murders of crow ride fearsome black sky waves; vulture circles; red-tailed hawk hangs out; red-headed woodpecker drills tree

Contest Judge

Katie Vagnino, poet, educator, and writer originally from St. Louis, Missouri. She graduated from Yale University and earned her M.F.A. in Creative Writing at Emerson College. Her debut collection of poetry, Imitation Crab (Finishing Line Press, 2021), explores the tension between authenticity and artificiality, and the slipperiness of identity through the lens of female experience. She was the judge of the 300+ poems submitted for the Poetry NOW. Poetry FOREVER Contest.

As a freelancer, Katie’s work has been published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Verge, and Time Out Magazine. Her poetry has appeared in more than a dozen literary journals including Measure, Unsplendid, The Raintown Review, and Poetry City, USA. Her poem How to Explain Death to Your Daughter was featured on Metro Transit buses and trains in the Twin Cities. When she’s not writing or teaching, Katie serves on Saint Paul Almanac‘s Board of Directors. She currently lives in South Minneapolis with her husband, Jake.

Contest Details

Submissions open April 1 – 30 • Open to MN Residents Only.

What to Submit

Up to (3) Original, Unpublished Poems (with titles).

  • All must be within a single document and sent as an attachment.
  • No identifying information (name, address, etc.) should be on the document.
  • Write on any subject, in any style – we want your best work!

How to Submit NOW

We’ll award 1st prize, 2nd prize, and 3rd prize and announce the winners in May.

The winners will receive:

  1. Publication on Saint Paul Almanac’s website.
  2. A copy of the forthcoming 20th anniversary edition of Saint Paul Almanac.
  3. Invitation to read at the Global Poetry Celebration at Sisyphus Brewing, Wednesday, June 18th.

We can’t wait to read your work – Happy National Poetry Month!

Submissions are now closed. Thank you to all who submitted!

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