First, we’d like to thank everyone who entered their work this year: keep an eye on your mailbox this spring for a copy of Puerto del Sol's 2018 print issue, The Science Issue. This year's winners were chosen by Carmen Gimenez-Smith and Lily Hoang, our judges in poetry and prose respectively.
2017 Prose Contest Winner: “The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln” by Shane Kowalski
Lily says: “A story about a play where sound becomes violence, 'The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln’ made me laugh. Out loud. It’s funny. It’s frightening. It gives us real talk about race. It is a striking revelation of teenage wisdom.”
2017 Poetry Contest Winner: “Cuadrado de Sabzeh” by Natalie De Paz
Carmen says: “The mixture of languages in this poem is not the most surprising thing about it; ‘Cuadrado de Sabzeh’ moves in new directions seamlessly, painting a picture of blessings and hope for the future.”
The winners will be published online this spring—stay tuned!
Runners-up in Prose:
“The River Where I Came from, the River Where I’m Going” – J.D. Ho
“Errands” – Connor McElwee
Runners-up in Poetry:
“Adviced” – Emma Bolden
“Live” – Anna Morrison
“A Prayer to Ek Chuaj” – Javier Perez
About our Judges:
Carmen Giménez Smith is the author of a memoir, Bring Down the Little Birds (University of Arizona, 2010) and four poetry collections— including Milk and Filth, finalist for the 2013 NBCC award in poetry. She is the recipient of a 2011 American Book Award, the 2011 Juniper Prize for Poetry. A CantoMundo Fellow and formerly a Teaching-Writing Fellow at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she is also the co-founder of Noemi Press.
Lily Hoang is the author of five books, including A Bestiary (winner of the inaugural Cleveland State University Poetry Center’s Nonfiction Contest) and Changing (recipient of a PEN Open Books Award). With Joshua Marie Wilkinson, she edited the anthology The Force of What’s Possible: Writers on Accessibility and the Avant-Garde.