2023 Performance Poetry Contest Winners

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We'd like to thank everyone who entered our first PERFORMANCE POETRY contest and to give special thanks to our guest judge, Jen Harris!

 

Congratulations to all the winners and honorable mentions. We're so proud to support you in your creative endeavors!

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First Place: 

Alexis Taylor

"For the Culture"

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Alexis Robinson, also known as Alexis Taylor, is a South Florida native who is a singer, writer, painter, and purveyor of the arts. She believes that art allows for healing, community, and connection. Alexis recently received a grant for her work and looks forward to sharing her stories.

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Second Place:

Hank Henderson

"About Memory"
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hank Henderson is long-time Los Angeles resident. He is a 2018 Lambda Literary Emerging Poet Fellow. His writing has been published in various anthologies and magazines including Under the Belly of the Beast and Entropy. Hank lives with a guy named Joe and three very spoiled cats.

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Third Place:

Holly Tomcak

"Novel"
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Holly A. Tomcak (she/they) is a 23-year-old poet from northeast Nebraska. She has been published within WSC Press’s Judas Goat and is the 2023 Acers Steele Burgess Poetry Prize winner. They have also placed twice in WSC’s poetry slam series: 4th in Fall 2022 and 3rd in Spring 2023.

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Honorable Mentions:

in no particular order

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Kat Freeze

"Touch the Grass: A Praise Poem for the Post-Y2K Poet"

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Kat Freeze is a Chicago-based poet and nanny. She is a DePaul University graduate, the 2018 Louder than a Bomb college edition slam champion and was a semifinalist in the 2023 Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Awards. Her writing has been featured in Beyond Words Magazine and 14East.

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Arielle Negrin

"Self Love"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Arielle is a queer cis female living in Los Angeles, CA. She works in the entertainment industry and loves to write and perform her poetry.

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Hannah Robinson

"Prey"

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Hannah Robinson has been writing since the age of 4 and going to numerous writing camps over the years. She's an amateur with no publications under her belt but has always been lauded as a particularly strong writer amongst her many English teachers growing up.