Winners chosen in the December InterBoard Poetry Competition

Late but not forgotten: IBPC judge Ravi Shankar has selected an interesting set of winners in the December 2005 competition. For first place he chose “Gregorian Sestina,” by Esther Greenleaf Murer, “a deft reinvention of the form” invented by 12th century Provençal troubadour Arnaut Daniel that uses evolving rhyme & assonance instead of the usual word repetition to create “a heady, musical pastiche.” In second place he named “Flight,” by Sarah Sloat, a “postmodern paean to a post-9/11 world.” He awarded third place to “Rain (after ‘Storms’ by Philip Levine),” by John Vick, noting its “consistency of voice, the parable-like collusion of narrative with mystery.” Shankar also made honorable mention, without comment, of a poem whose title is perhaps the most intriguing thing about it, “Exit Wounds as an Element of String Theory in Autumn” by Joseph Armstead.

Related resources:
About the IBPC
Anthology of winning poems