Ned Foskey Poetry Prize 2020 Winners

Thanks go out to all of the students who submitted their work to the 2020 Ned Foskey Poetry Prize. This year, we received 109 poems. The English Department at Kalamazoo Valley would like to thank the friends and family of Ned Foskey for supporting writing and our students. Ned Foskey, whose memory we honor with this prize, was a tutor in the writing center at Kalamazoo Valley and a poet.

Here is a note from our poetry judge, Jennifer Clark, about her experience reading your work:

“I’m grateful that you asked me to serve as this year’s judge. When I accepted the offer, little did I know we would soon find ourselves in the midst of a pandemic. However, as these strange and sad events unfold throughout the entire world, there is no better time to turn to poetry. What a gift it was to read and be with each one of these poems submitted to the Ned Foskey Poetry Prize competition. Whether students’ work was selected or not, they should all be commended for not just writing some really interesting poems, but also choosing to put their work forward. That in itself can be a scary thing to do. I hope they keep putting themselves--and their writings--forward. These times call for courage.”

Thanks to Jennifer Clark and all of you. Jennifer Clark is the author of three full-length poetry collections: Necessary Clearings (Shabda Press, 2014); Johnny Appleseed: The Slice & Times of John Chapman (Shabda Press, 2018); and A Beginner’s Guide to Heaven (Unsolicited Press, 2019). She is also the co-editor of the anthology, Immigration & Justice For Our Neighbors (Celery City Books, 2017). Her poems, essays, and fiction have appeared in Midwest Quarterly Review, Fiction Fix, Women’s Studies Quarterly, Columbia Journal, Concho River Review, Nimrod, Ecotone, and Flyway, among others.Most every day, Jennifer practices writing without a net. And when she’s not writing, you can find her blogging at Ask Me About My 12,000 Kids for Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo.

2020 Ned Foskey Poetry Prize Winners and Honorable Mentions:
First Place: “Before and after and now,” by Sarah Drumm
Click to read
Judge’s note:
I was immediately drawn to the sense of powerlessness elicited in this poem. There is a breathless quality to this piece, enhanced by the poet’s use of long lines. (The smart placement of shorter lines serves like sharp intakes of breath.) This poem is a prayer which plunges the reader into the “Before and after and now” of the 1999 Columbine event. I especially admire the poet’s interplay with the ever-fluid past and how memory and remembering shapes us. There is much wisdom in this piece that applies to then and now. [Extra note: Love the Swingline stapler line!]

Second Place: “Ode to the Panda,” by Mary Larsen
Click to read
Judge’s note:
I marvel at how, with a few choice words, the poet captures both the external and internal landscape of this “ambassador of lazy days.” After reading “Ode to the Panda,” you can’t help but think that we need more panda poems in the world.

Third Place: “The Weir,” by Zacharie Kelly
Click to read
Judge’s note:
I like being surprised and this poem surprises. Long after reading “The Weir,” the concrete details and imagery have stayed with me, particularly the poet’s use of the “rotting apple” simile within the last stanza.

Honorable Mentions
“Called,” by Sarah Drumm
“Billy Joel’s Bar,” by Alyssa Loucks
“Luna,” by Sarah Drumm
“And we’re rolling,” by Carly Heine
“Frozen Moment,” by Jeffery Johnson
“night terrors,” by Hannah Tsui
“87,” by Shelby Alexander
“Your Father,” by Jacy Ditchie