WFOP Contest Results
2025 Results
Dyad Contest
The Triad Contest is now the Dyad. Charlie Rossiter judged the theme category for the theme, Attractions. Allison Joseph judged Poets’ Choice. Their biographies and the contest information is on the website and was in the “Museletter.” 71 poets entered. 62 entered the theme category, and 61 entered Poet’s Choice. The theme for 2026 is Survival.
THEME: ATTRACTIONS
1st Place
Jef Leisgang - “Company Picnic”
2nd Place
Jeffrey Johannes - “Every Evening Should Be Like This”
3rd Place
Carrie Sherrill - “It All Counts as Practice”
Honorable Mentions
William Norine - “I’ll Remember Jane Chiefly
Yvette Viets Flaten - “Winter Romance”
POET’S CHOICE
1st Place
F.J. Bergmann - “Remember”
2nd Place
Scott Lowery - “The World of Work”
3rd Place
Jan Chronister - “Daisies Were My Sister’s Favorite Flower”
Honorable Mentions
P.R. Dyjak - “The Dead”
Annette Langlois Grunseth - “Meditation in Time”
Becky Schigiel - “Mourning the Living”
Chapbook Contest
1st Place
DeMar Walker, editor - Currents, vol. 1: Flow (independently published; produced while artist-in-residence with Milwaukee Water Commons)
2nd Place
Megan Muthupandiyan - Of the Earth and Other Desires (LMP Press)
3rd Place
Jacob Boyd - My National Parks (MWC Press)
Kay Saunders Emerging Poet Prize
First Place $100
Deborah Gordon - “Domicile”
Second Place $50
Jef Leisgang - “Falling Out of the Shower As a Reflection on Mortality”
Third Place $30
Laura Selenka - “Monday”
Honorable Mentions
G. Anthony - “The Season Within”
A.M. Albaugh - “Nemophilist”
Muse Prize
First Place
Goeff Collins - "Poem Near Coughlin, MT"
Second Place
Katrina Serwe - "Seeking Possibility"
Third Place
Marsha Tuchscherer - "More or Less"
Honorable Mentions
Ronnie Hess - "On Losing a Hen, On Setting It Free"
Jacqueline Redmer - "Entering the Belly of the Whale"
Naomi Cochran - "Map of the Brain"
Student Ekphrastic Contest
David F. Driesbach, And A Blue Footed Boobie (9/20), 2000
Winning Poem
“And a Blue Footed Boobie: Watching the Bonds Break” by Emily B.
12th Grade
Arrowhead Union High School
Educator: Terri Carnell
Runners-up
“Alluring Fraudulence” by Gabrielle M.
12th Grade
Arrowhead Union High School
Educator: Terri Carnell
“In the Last Moments” by Taylor M.
11th Grade
Arrowhead Union High School
Educator: Terri Carnell
David Kroll, Landscape (Rose Vase), 2019
Winning Poem
"Balancing Actions" by Brady W.
12th Grade
KM Global Charter School
Educator: Elizabeth Jorgenson
Runners-up
“Teetering” by Mariella L.
11th Grade
Kettle Moraine High School
Educator: Angela McLean
“Caged Desire” by Ty W.
12th Grade
Arrowhead Union High School
Educator: Katie Herrmann
Theodore Robinson, Child with Geese, 1886
Winning Poem
“To Survive is to Pretend” by Helen T.
11th Grade
Hayward High School
Educator: Karen Duffy
Runners-up
“Wonder is the Way to Win” by Phoenix R.
11th Grade
Hayward High School
Educator: Karen Duffy
“A Child-like Curiosity” by Harrison P.
12th Grade
Arrowhead Union High School
Educator: Terri Carnell