Kacie Biddle
Bailey Stanford
Amy Morrison
Chad Munro
Alicia Stevens
Candice Anderson
Jessica Shackett
Laura Carroll
Erin Collins
Alyssa Himler
Courtney Ruffner
Suzanne Keyworth
Consultants
Joe Loccisano, art consultant
Jeff Grieneisen, technical consultant
Pentangle 2004
Judges
Fritz Ward has published poems in more than twenty journals,
including Washington Square, Southern
Poetry Review, Columbia: A Journal of Literature & Art, Wisconsin Review,
Portland Review, Madison Review, Clackamas Review, and Tampa Review and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of
North Carolina Greensboro, where he served as a poetry editor for the Greensboro
Review. He currently coordinates
special events for United Way in Sarasota, Florida and serves as Chair of
the Student Poetry Contest for the Sarasota Reading Festival.
Dinty W. Moore is the author of three books, editor
of the anthology Sudden Stories, and publisher of BREVITY, an
electronic journal of concise literary nonfiction. He has written for numerous
publications, including The New York Times Magazine, Utne Reader,
Arts & Letters, Crazyhorse, and The Southern Review.
Decision for Pentangle Poetry Contest
Judge:
Fritz Ward
1st Place: “Moorhens, June 8” by Dorinda Davis
“Moorhens, June 8” is a wonderfully descriptive meditative poem. I admire the specificity of each detail, from “The black moorhens / With their red faces,” to the “sleepy air riding my cheekbones.” Each detail is organic and satisfying, on the visceral and symbolic levels. Along with the strong imagery, I was most impressed with the metaphoric description of the mother. The poem does a beautiful job of employing the natural symbols already present in the poem (the bird and the dragonfly) to characterize the mother.
2nd Place: “Experimental Youth” by Brian
Amoroso
“Experimental Youth” is the poem that gets you grounded, and for that it should be proud. The poem tackles a single occurrence of recreational drug use with an array of figurative language and symbolic imagery. More importantly, the poem eschews propaganda (for or against) and offers a candid portrait of an experience both amazing and frightening (“And we laughed in spite of our terror”). The poem’s strength resides in its ability to present the duality of the experience.
3rd Place: “Cliché” by Ryan Patton
“Cliché” is the anti-poem of poems and surely one of the most original poems among all the submissions. The language is lively and inventive and the fragmented structure help underscore the poem’s message. “Cliché” demonstrates how defying traditional perceptions (in this case, the flower as a metaphor for beauty), yields a much more powerful and effective poem
Honorable Mention: “Why Am I Nude And In Your Pool?” by
John Fontan
“Why Am I Nude In Your Pool?” combined humor, narrative, controlled rhyme and imagination to culminate in a thoroughly enjoyable poem.
Decision for Pentangle Fiction Contest
Judge:
Dinty W. Moore
1st Place: "Ants" by Serene O’Hara-Jolley
"I was struck by the surreal, magical realist quality of this story of childhood fears and fantasies. Sally and Zoe are absolutely memorable characters, and the author does an excellent job of capturing that adolescent experience of being the odd-girl-out. The imagery is likewise startling."
2nd Place: "The Crane" by Lauren Albrecht
"This is a simple, moving tale of two brothers and the younger boy's loss of innocence. Most notable is the clean, clear dialogue and the lovely description of the dead sandhill crane. The author does a lot in a short pace and manages to touch on some very basic human moments."
3rd Place: "Dinner" by Mak Wai Ming
"A strong portrait of the role of food in the traditional Chinese family (or really, any immigrant family), and of how the gap between generations grows quickly in America. The simple language of the narrator and the carefully chosen details combine to create a moving portrait of a woman's loss."
Honorable Mentions: "Will It Be Me?" by Wendy
Caie and "Threads" by Jake
Okanuma