The 2008 Muse Prize for Excellence in Poetry was judge by Linda Andrews.
There were 162 entries, which included 107 WFOP members and 55 non-members.
The winners are:

First Place: Yvette Viets Flaten, “OK, here we go”
Second: Dennis Idzikowski, “Wisconsin Places”
Third:Judith Harway, “My Grandmother’s Babies”

Honorable Mentions:
Thomas Erickson, “Ghazal for a Crow”
Anjie Greene-Martin, “Room in New York, 1932”
Gary Jones, “Snake in the Attic”

The 2007 Muse Prize for Excellence in Poetry was judge by Barton Sutter.
There were 124 entries, which included 84 WFOP members and 40 non-members.
The winners are:

First Place: Jeri McCormick, Madison, for “Flash Flood, 1939”
Second: Ann Arntson, Madison, for “Penmanship”
Third: Susan Johnson, Green Bay, for “The Chosen”

Honorable Mentions:
Jacqueline West, Madison, for “Farmer’s Daughter”
David Blackey, LaCrosse, for “Library Reverie”
Charles Ries, Milwaukee, for “My Cat’s Human”

The 2006 Muse Prize for Excellence in Poetry was judged by Marilyn Johnston. There were 150 entries which included 93 WFOP members and 57 non-members. The winners are:

First Place: Judith Strasser, Madison, “Rote”
Second: Yvette Flaten, Eau Claire, “My Husband Buys a Rain Gauge”
Third: B. J. Best, West Bend, “owen gromme as a child watched canadian geese staging”

Honorable Mentions:
Michael Kriesel, Aniwa, “Feathers”
Jean Tomasko, Middleton, “How to See a Fairy”
Karen Lindberg-Schuppe, Fond du Lac, “From Milwaukee to Baghdad”
Karen Kerans, Milwaukee, “Children in the Wind”

The 2005 Muse Prize for Excellence in Poetry was judged by Robert Siegel. There were 116 entries which included 65 WFOP members and 51 non-members. The winners are:

First Place: Sue DeKelver, Brussels, for “Medusa’s Story”
Second: Mary Wehner, Fond du Lac, for “The Full Car”
Third: Karen Lindberg-Schuppe, Fond du Lac, for “The Magician’s Wife”

Honorable Mentions:
Alice D’Alessio, Madison, for “First Impressions”
Yvette Flaten, Eau Claire, for “Fish Tale”
Joan Wiese Johannes, Port Edwards, for “December Eccentric”
Karen Kerans, Milwaukee, for “To Smell a Chickadee””

Stellasue Lee, the editor of Rattle, was the judge. There were 143 entries, 77 members and 66 non-members.

First place: Judith Barisonzi, Fond du Lac for “Sisyphus”
Second place: F.J. Bergmann, Poynette, for “Uses of Metaphor”
Third place: Susan Cain, New Glarus, for “Just Beneath the Surface”
 
Honorable mentions in alphabetical order:
Kathleen Dale, Milwaukee, for “Tying the Knot”
Jackie Langetieg, for “Negative Ions”
Timothy Walsh, Madison, for “Gramercy Park”

Marian Haddad of San Antonio, Texas, was the judge. There were 155 entries, 90 members and 65 non-members.

First place: Ellen Kort for "Eating for my Sister"
Second place: Peg Lauber for "An Intimate Meeting with the Stripper"
Third place: Jason Splichal for "Deer Dance"
 
Honorable mentions in alphabetical order:
Suzanne Bergen
Cathryn Cofell
John Gurda
Joan Wiese Johannes
Kathleen Hayes Phillips
Robert Samarotto
Tom Torinus
Wendy Vardaman

Judged by Naomi Shihab Nye. There were 127 entries.

First Place: Dale Ritterbusch for "Vacation in Northern Wisconsin 1940s"
Second : Mariann Ritzer for "Crawl Space"
Third: Norma Gay Prewett for "Grape Jellying at the End"

Honorable mentions: (in alphabetical order)
Paula Anderson for "Nothing but Close"
Carrie B. Becker for "PREPARE"
Cynthia Belmont for "The House is the Horse's Mouth"
Lisa Marie Brodsky for "The Offering"
Cathryn Cofell for "The Distance Between"
Karla Huston for "Secret"
Ellen Kort for "Making Blackberry Jam with My Daughters"
Kristi Lee Link for "Bendita"
Doug Nietzke for "The Spoon with Holes"
Nadine St. Louis for "Poetry, You Say, Is Slow Talk"
Yvette Viets Flaten for "Before Air Conditioning"