Winners Announced for 2006 War Poetry Contest

Northampton, MA (PRWEB) November 15, 2006--Winning Writers is pleased to announce the results from its fifth annual War Poetry Contest. Ed Frankel of Los Angeles, CA won first prize and $1,500 for his poems "Instrumentum Vocale" and "Gladium Vocale", which dramatize episodes from Spartacus' slave rebellion against the Roman Empire in the first century BC.



868 entries of 1-3 poems each were received from around the world. They were judged by Jendi Reiter, award-winning author of A Talent for Sadness. Ms. Reiter comments, "The legend of Spartacus has long been a symbol of struggle against oppression. Frankel's taut, unsparing verses bring these characters to life amid a host of paradoxes. A 'just war' that is still brutal and marred by treachery; a war that (as always) dehumanizes the combatants, even as it gives an exploited people a fleeting, glorious opportunity to claim their birthright as human beings and not 'tools with a voice'; an honorable defeat that ultimately casts a longer shadow than any victory. The psychological realism of Frankel's characters brings out this story's universal aspects."

William Pitt Root of Bayfield, CO won second prize and $500 for "El Comandante Has Asked for a Song", a lyric poem about the assassination of Chilean poet, singer and activist Victor Jara under General Pinochet's dictatorship.

Carrie Preston of Boston, MA won third prize and $250 for "I Also Married the War", "The camis come out" and "War Paperwork", a poem sequence about a woman struggling to reconcile her pacifist convictions with loyalty to her husband, a US Marine deployed in Iraq. Ms. Preston previously received an honorable mention in our 2003 War Poetry Contest for "You Haven't Killed Anyone".

Ten honorable mention awards of $75 were also made in this year's contest, bringing the total awards to $3,000. The winners and 12 finalists are published at WinningWriters.com.

Please contact Winning Writers to request additional information or permission to reprint poems, or to arrange interviews with the contest winners.

About the War Poetry Contest

The War Poetry Contest, initiated in 2002, is sponsored by Winning Writers. It seeks original, unpublished poems on the theme of war. Contestants may submit 1-3 poems, up to 500 lines in all. Submissions for the 2007 contest are accepted from November 15, 2006 through May 31, 2007 (postmark dates). The prize pool is increasing to $5,000, including a first prize of $2,000. Entries are accepted online and by mail. The entry fee is $15. For more information, please see our War Poetry Contest guidelines.

About Winning Writers, Inc.

Winning Writers is today's leading source for poetry contest information. We have been selected as one of the "101 Best Web Sites for Writers" by Writer's Digest for 2005 and 2006. Our online database, Poetry Contest Insider, includes complete guidelines and rankings for over 750 poetry contests, plus over 300 of the top fiction and essay contests. Our free email newsletter offers news about quality free contests and literary resources. Winning Writers sponsors two annual contests, the War Poetry Contest and the Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest. The latter is a no-fee contest.

Winning Writers was founded in 2001 by Jendi Reiter and Adam Cohen. Learn more at WinningWriters.com.

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