Past Winners

Since 2009, the Maine Postmark Poetry contest has attracted excellent poems from all over the state of Maine. Winners of the contest have been featured in various events, from Round Robin circle readings to Old Home Night rallies of local talent to scavenger-style Gallery Hunt displays throughout Belfast art galleries to broadcast live performances.

Since 2017, the winning poems have been published by The Maine Review.

From 2014 to 2016, the winning poems were published by Off the Coast, Maine’s International Poetry Journal.

Previous first place winners of the contest and their judges are listed below.

2009 Judy Kaber of Belfast, “Industrial remains,” judge Joel Lipman of Toledo, OH

2010 Luise Van Keuran of Clark Island, “Jetsam,” judge Arielle Greenberg of Chicago, IL

2011 Thomas R. Moore of Brooksville, “Chet Sawing,” judge Emily Taylor

2013 Marilyn Hotch of Camden, "Mother," judge Laurel Ann Bogen of Venice, CA

2014 Kristen Lindquist of Camden, "Mill," judge Gary Lawless of Nobleboro, ME

2015 Laurence Coe of Rockland, “Before,” judge Baron Wormser of Montpelier, VT

2016 Sally Jaskold of Belfast, “Bright Cloth, Foxhole," judge Connie Voisine of Las Cruces, NM

2017 Carol Willette Bachofner of Rockland, "Passagassawaukeag," judge Katharine Rauk of Minneapolis, MN

2018 Lee Sharkey of Portland, "Man in the Mud," judge Timothy Liu of New York, NY

2019 Jefferson Navicky of Freeport, "Other Fathers," judge Anna M. Warrock of Somerville, MA

2021 Mike Bove of Portland, "BASHO'S DEATH POEM, NEW YORK CITY," judge Alexandria Peary of Londonderry, NH

2022 Meredith Thomas of Portland, "body," judge Virginia Konchan of Halifax, Nova Scotia