Home Page
Mississippi Poetry Society's
2012 Poet of the Year
Pat Jordan
The Tender Gift.
Mississippi Poetry Society 2012 Spring Contest Results
Category 1: Mississippi Poetry Society Award
1st Place: "The Grand Plan" by Dierdre S. Payne
2nd Place: "Missing Mississippi by Charles K. Firmage
3rd Place: "Mississippi HIghways" by Barbara Blanks
Honorable Mention
"Mississippi Soul" by Joyce Burns
"The Milky Way at Ten" by Henry Spottswood
"Mississipi Delta Memories” by DeSha Montgomery
Category #2: Past President’s Award
1st Place: “Ode to Optimists” by Catherine Moran
2nd Place: “The Yard Sale” by Elaine McDermott
3rd Place: “Saturday Night at the Automat” by Madelyn Eastlund Honorable Mention
“Surrender to Night” by Sandra Bounds
“Summit” by Jerri Hardesty
“Soul Sisters” by Darlene Stull
Category 3: Frances Denington Memorial Award
1st Place: “Tasting Fear” by Doris Jones
2nd Place: “My Feathered Friends--Where are they now?” by LaVern
Spencer McCarthy
3rd Place: “Consequences” by Janice Canardy
Honorable Mention
“A Proposal of Lies” by Catherine Moran
“Fishermen at Paradise Lake” by John McBride
“The Thaw” by Barbara Blanks
Category 4: Confederate States of America Memorial Award
1st Place: “The Hanging of David O’Dodd by Jim Barton
2nd Place: “We're Proud”—Charles K. Firmage
3rd Place:“Jeremiah Gage of the University Greys” by Jeanne S. Kelly
Honorable Mention
“The Poor Man's Fight” by Ralph E. Gordon
“ Bravery” by Ann Carolyn Cates
“CSA” by Emory D. Jones
Category 5: MPS President/Vice-President Award
1st Place: “Put Your Thumbs Down and Step Away from the Phone” by Barbara Blanks
2nd Place: “User and Spouse” by Wynne Huddleston
3rd Place: “The Collected E-mails of Whom” by Douglas Taylor
Honorable Mention
“The Size of Things” by Sheila Grieco
“Game On!” by Linda Watson Owen
“Fish Stories” by Charles K. Firmage
Category 6: Charles and Dorothy Little Memorial Award
1st Place: “The Great Estate Sale” by Liz Ferguson
2nd Place:“The Church of St. Augustine and Bermuda” by Jim Barton
3rd Place: “Passage” by Doris Jones Honorable Mention
“Orphan Photos” by Dalene Stull
“Evelyn” by M.A. Smith
“Broken Morning” by E. Gail Chandler
Category 7—Narrative Poetry Award
1st Place: "American Fork Mining Camp" by Dalene Stull
2nd Place: "Ballad of the Backyard Game" by Emory D. Jones
3rd Place: "Ballad of the Cornfield" by Von Bourland
Honorable Mention
"Ballad of Katrina" by Brenda Brown Finnegan
"London Visit" by Judy Davies
"Maw Baines" by Jeanne S. Kelly
Category 8—MPS Central Branch Award
1st Place: “The Golden Land” by Barbara Blanks
2nd Place: “Red Rover” by Doris Jones
3rd Place: “Filling in the Blanks” Emory D. Jones
Honorable Mention
“Freed Verse by Sara Gipson
“The Cost of Freedom” by Sandra Bounds
“ Freedom’s Song” by Judy Davies
Category 9—MPS South Branch Award
1st Place: “Old Fashioned Romance” by Jerri Hardesty
2nd Place: “Flora Mae” by Doris Jones
3rd Place: “The First Time” by Linda Watson Owen
Honorable Mention
“Retirement Novels” by Brenda Brown Finnegan
“Ripe with Age” by Tommy Little
"Shadowed Vanity” by Sara Gipson
Category 10: Myrtle Rae Davis Jones Award
1st Place: “Meeting My Mother” by Catherine Moran
2nd Place: “Mom’s Cure” by Sara Gipson
3rd Place: “Pretty, but Painful” by Jeanne S. Kelly
Honorable Mention
“Letter to a Grand-daughter Climbing the Family Tree”—Madelyn
Eastlund
“Grandma’s Butter”—LaVern Spencer McCarty
“Miss Mary’s Hat” by Barbara Blanks
Category 11: Ruth Richmond Award
1st Place: “The Infallible Bridge” by Janice Canerdy
2nd Place: “Mend the Bridge of Relationships” by Grace Fletcher
3rd Place: “Bridges” by Jerri Hardesty
Honorable Mention
“Bridging History” by Judy Davies
“The Bridge” by Jim Barton
“Bridges Then and Now” by Ralph E. Gordon
Category 12: Poetry as an Art Form
1st Place: “A Work of Art” by Catherine Moran
2nd Place: “The Poet's Word” by D.L. Mumpower
3rd Place: “Theatre of the Mind” by Ann Carolyn Cates
Honorable Mention
“Sound Internal” by Wynne Huddleston
“The Gift” by Linda Watson Owen
“The Creative Process” by Jeanne S. Kelly
Category 13—Nature Trail Award in Memory of Patricia Green
1st Place: “Wings and Wisteria” by Brenda Brown Finnegan
2nd Place: “The Rose of Friendship” by Linda Watson Owen
3rd Place: “Splendiferous Day” by Barbara Blanks
Honorable Mention
“Bird Watch” by Judy Davies
“The View from My Window” by D. L. Mumpower
“April Robin” by LaVern Spencer McCarthy
Category 14-Herbert and Inez Shelton Memorial Award
1st Place: “Social Function(ing)” by Caroline Z. Sposto
2nd place: “Roads” by Jim Barton
3rd Place: “Give Me a Key” by Linda Watson Owen
Honorable Mention
"When They’re Playing Our Song” by Charles K. Firmage
“In Memoriam: Bill Lipscomb” by Douglas Taylor
“Pass It On” by Jane Blanchard
Category 15—Student Awards
Level 1 (grades 1-3)
1st place: "In Five Seconds" by Marilyn Tullos
2nd place: “Cuter Than a Panda Bear” by Rachel Woodham
3rd place: “Winter” by Alyssa McMullan
Honorable Mentions
“On Halloween Night”—Cameron Gressett
“Football”—Ethan Bunty
Level 2 (grades 4-5)
1st place: “Whispers in the Wind” by Jonathan Boudreau
2nd place: “World” by Jesse Harrison 3rd place: “The Underworld” by Andie Cleveland Honorable Mentions
“Sharper Than” by Katie Barnes
“Surprise!” by Jordan Mason
“The Silly Turtle” by Hunter Walker
Level 4 (grades 9-12)
1st place: “A Ballerina Conflict” by Ryan Wilshusen
2nd place: “Keep Your Head Up” by Gladys Hart
3rd place: “But I’ll Still Love Thee” by Rikki Williams
Category 16—Rhymed Verse
1st Place: “Morning Miracle” by Emory D. Jones
2nd Place: “Sweet, Sunny Summers” by Wynne Huddleston
3rd Place: “Tunica Troubles” by Ann Carolyn Cates
Honorable Mention
“Manhunt” by Judy Davies
“Angels Among Us” by Grace Fletcher
Category 17: Free Verse
1st Place: Mission Bells—Ann Carolyn Cates
2nd Place: Rejoice—Brenda Brown Finnegan
3rd Place: In Spirit—Judy Davies
Honorable Mention
“Unraveling” by Jeanne S. Kelly
“The Breath of Time” by Wynne Huddleston
About Mississippi Poetry Society
Mississippi Poetry Society, founded in 1932, is a Member of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS). Its purpose is to foster interest in the writing of poetryand to bring poetry to the general public.
Upcoming Events: Mark your calendar: The MPS 2012 Spring Festival details will be announced soon.
Contests:
MPS sponsors two poetry contests per year which are open to national and international
poets as well as those from Mississippi.
Publications: Each year MPS publishes The Mississippi Poetry Journal, which is a collection of poems which won place awards in each category of the semi-annual contests.
In addition, a Poet of the Year is selected through a judging process each year, and the organization publishes a chapbook of selected works by the honoree.
State Meetings:The full state organization meets twice a year. The Fall Mini-festival is held at Belhaven College in Jackson in October or November. The Spring Festival is held in April at rotating locations.
MPS Branches: The state organization is divided into three branches, which meet regularly.
North Branch, serving the northern third of the state, rotates meeting places in its area. For more information, write to Emory D. Jones, pianot@bellsouth.net.
Central Branch meets on the third Saturday of each month at Belhaven University. To learn more about that group, contact Jeanne Kelly, poetess20012002@yahoo.com.
South Branch, serving the southern and coastal regions of Mississippi, meets at the Kathleen McIlwain Public Library in Gautier on the 2nd Saturday of the month, except in July and December when we meet in a member's home, May is the 3rd Saturday and August we do not meet. This group sponsors an annual writing competition in conjunction with Writer's Unlimited featuring both adult and youth categories, poems and short stories. It opens in June, closes in September. Awards are in November. For more information, contact Brenda Finnegan, writeaway@cableone.net.
How to join Mississippi Poetry Society: Annual Dues are $25; $10 goes to the local branch, and $15 goes to the state organization. State dues include membership in the National Federation of Poetry Societies (NFSPS).
If you are a resident of Mississippi, send your name, address, phone number and email address along with $25 check to
MPS, Inc.
c/o Judy Davies
1418 Louis Alexis Trail
Gautier MS 39553
Non-residents may be members-at-large, and can join by sending $15 to the above address.
