Woodnotes Award Winners

From 1991 to 1997, each quarterly issues of Woodnotes announced a “Woodnotes Award” winner. These awards sought to stimulate the submission of excellent poems and to honour submitters for their work. From 1991 to 1995 (issues #11 through #27), these winners were selected by the editors. In 1996, for issues #28 through #30, they were selected by the previous winner, with the final winner in 1997, from issue #31, being selected by the editor. The following are all the “Woodnotes Award” winners. Each announcement also listed three runners-up, but those poems are not included here. Gary Hotham, Matthew Louvière, Patricia Neubauer, and Peggy Willis Lyles each won the award twice.

#11, Winter 1991

she lifts the broom

as if to sweep

—a gust of wind

Matthew Louvière

#12, Spring 1992

stillness

of the mist . . .

white rowboat

Marlina Rinzen

#13, Summer 1992

morning breeze

pulsing in the Buddha’s palm

a spider web

Ebba Story

#14, Autumn 1992

autumn wind—

milkweed plumes

in the beggar’s bowl

Patricia Neubauer

#15, Winter 1992

my father

gentle for a moment—

butterflies

Marianne Monaco

#16, Spring 1993

planting alyssum

morning sunlight, purple

on the earthworms

Kathy White

#17, Summer 1993

fields flooded—

beneath the surface, somewhere,

the river bends

Christopher Herold

#18, Autumn 1993

November mist—

wood smoke scents

the jogger’s way

Peggy Willis Lyles

#19, Winter 1993

falling snow

white envelopes drop

through the mail slot

Winona Baker

#20, Spring 1994

knocking on the hive—

the hum of winter bees

rises a moment

Paul O. Williams

#21, Summer 1994

nursing a friend with AIDS

I close the window

against rain

Jerry Kilbride

#22, Autumn 1994

hand to hand

the unframed photos

of her life

Gary Hotham

#23, Winter 1994

palominos—

curve of the winter hills

in moonlight

Cherie Hunter Day

#24, Spring 1995

wild rose—

on the thorn’s tip

a bead of blood

Jeff Witkin

#25, Summer 1995

daybreak—

from the bread truck’s roof

frost swirls

Tom Clausen

#26, Autumn 1995

fresh-fallen snow—

footprints leading away

from the grave

Mark Arvid White

#27, Winter 1995

toy shop window

a tiny sleigh waits

at the doll house door

Patricia Neubauer

#28, Spring 1996

Chosen by Patricia Neubauer from issue #27:

thunderclap

the frayed shoestring

snaps

Peggy Willis Lyles

#29, Summer 1996

Chosen by Peggy Willis Lyles from issue #28:

Meteor shower

a dog on the porch

shaking off

Matthew Louvière

#30, Autumn 1996

Chosen by Matthew Louvière from issue #29:

after sunset

we lean against the stone wall

the warmth

Larry Kimmel

#31, Autumn 1997

Chosen by Larry Kimmel from issue #30:

love lost

pulling crabgrass

in the fading light

Keiko Imaoka

Chosen by Michael Dylan Welch from issue #31:

with the numbers

my daughter knows—

the stars counted

Gary Hotham