Results of the 2026 Stephen A DiBiase Poetry Contest
First ($500)
Permission To Talk About Joy & Other Soft Things—Michael Emerald Oladosu, Ibadan, Nigeria
Second ($150)
Every Time I Write A Poem My Girl is Disappointed—Sherre Vernon, Merced,CA
Third ($75)
Little Brown Changeling—Lauren Scharhag, Sugar Creek, MO
Third ($75)
Sunset on Mars—Barbara Ungar, Saratoga Springs, NY
Honorable Mentions (9 at $40)
- The Last Elegy of Orpheus.v2—Chris Li, Sydney, Australia
- Speaking of Doors—Vinita Agrawal, Indore, India
- So We Don’t Sleep—Souad Zakarani, Casablanca, Morocco
- After The Wind—Adamu Suleiman, Ilorin, Nigeria
- War Torn Children—Nataly Antar, Brooklyn, NY
- Poem about Us—Yupang Hanna Han, Troy, NY
- Old Dog at Night—John Savoie, Edwardsville, IL
- Show Me the Parts I’ve Forgotten—Baani Minhas, Mountain House, CA
- The Indisputable—Peter LaBerge, Philadelphia, PA
Other Finalists
- And They Want Me to Practice Mindfulness At a Time Like This—Luis Pabon, Albany, NY
- Few Exceptions—K. T. Mills, Washington, DC
- Meditations Of The Gun—Pamilerin Jacob, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
- BUT HAVE YOU TRIED YOGA?—Anna Boughtwood, Albany, NY
- TV to VCR—Elissa Hunter, Brooklyn, NY
- The Boy And His Grief—Philip Chijioke Abonyi, Nsukka, Nigeria
- Things We Don’t Say Out Loud—Shokhruh Kayumov, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
- Trojan Peace—Ibrahim Abu, Birmingham, UK
- The Poem—R.M. Engelhardt- Delmar, NY
- Stay With Me—Isaac Kilibwa, Wodanga, Kenya
- There Is No Gun—Alison Stone, Upper Nyack, NY
- Fishboat—I Echo, Fairfax, VA
- A flower stretching for a butterfly’s kiss—Joemario Umana, Maiduguri, Nigeria
- The Youngest Bride—Sahar Moqadam, Tehran, Iran
- A Blackbird Does Not Ask The Leaves—Ion Corcos, Tacoma South, Australia