WPA Contest Winners (1972-1979)

These pages contain lists of all Washington Poets Association contest winners since the WPA begain running contests in 1972. We have compiled as many of the WPA contest results as we could find by reviewing archived issues of newsletters and other papers.

Thanks go out to to Karen Havnaer for her work in compiling all the contest results from the WPA archives and helping to provide biographical data, and to Michael Dylan Welch for additional writing, editing, and text preparation.

1972

William Stafford, Adult (William Stafford, Judge)

• 1st Black Money, Tess Gallagher, Seattle
• 2nd In Hoc Signo Vinces, Frank Maloney, Seattle
• 3rd Lines to a Domineering Mother, Virginia Horton, Richland

Homer Henderson, Senior High (???, Judge)

• 1st Filming, Mark Ercegovic, Sumner
• 2nd Otto Writes What He Laughingly Calls a Love Poem, Sean Bentley, Seattle
• 3rd Fences, Craig Sweet, Ellensburg

Totem, Junior High (???, Judge)

• 1st Do You Think, Kristi Urv, Tacoma
• 2nd Winter Song, Pamela Olich, Anacortes
• 3rd Life's Lost Children, Karen Ann Smith, Spokane

1973

William Stafford, Adult (???, Judge)

• 1st Song for the Last Husband, Sallie Schack, Seattle
• 2nd Naked Morning, Stephen Jaech, Seattle
• 3rd Seven Steps to Office, Mark Ercegovic, Sumner

Homer Henderson, Senior High (???, Judge)

• 1st The Day Is Always Near, Penny Olson, Cheney
• 2nd Spaghetti, Randy Ness, Seattle
• 3rd Contemplation in the Garden, Mary Sliwoski, Seattle

Totem, Junior High (???, Judge)

• 1st I Put No Name, Jacob Wright, Renton
• 2nd Carnival, Julie McDonnell, Seattle
• 3rd Old Apple Lady, Norell Pratt, Seattle

Haiku (???, Judge)

• 1st ???, Sr. Phoebe Passler, OSB, Olympia
• 2nd ???, Albert R. Marino, Ellwood City, Pennsylvania
• 3rd ???, Constance Show, Lakewood, Colorado

1974

William Stafford, Adult (???, Judge)

• 1st For the Women Who Took DES When Pregnant, Sherry Rind, Bellevue
• 2nd Quinault Bone Game, Gala FitzGerald, Seattle
• 3rd The Death, Mark Ercegovic, Sumner

Homer Henderson, Senior High (???, Judge)

• 1st Red Raven, Ruben Rangel, Yakima
• 2nd For Jim, Denise Crabtree, Edmonds
• 3rd Conflicts, Joan Zeck, Enumclaw

Totem, Junior High (???, Judge)

• 1st Beach Note, Julie Palais, Seattle
• 2nd Hit, Crystal Finley, Seattle
• 3rd The Grasshopper, Karen Huether, Bothell

1975

William Stafford, Adult (???, Judge)

• 1st Long Woman's Death, Janice Simpson, Seattle
• 2nd The Phone Calls, Joan Swift, Edmonds
• 3rd (tie) Summer Birth, Betty Healy, Seattle
• 3rd (tie) Hearing the Woman, Barry Grimes, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Homer Henderson, Senior High (???, Judge)

• 1st Pastures, Lauren Height, Seattle
• 2nd Frog Harvest on Lake Langlois, Toni Larson, Renton
• 3rd Window Count, Janice Simpson, Seattle

Totem, Junior High (???, Judge)

• 1st Down Below the Tambourine Man, Thomas Pratt, Seattle
• 2nd The Privilege, Elizabeth Rudd, Seattle
• 3rd About Fall, Tim Abel

1976

William Stafford, Adult (???, Judge)

• 1st Dying on My Feet, Stephen Jaech, Steilacoom
• 2nd (tie) On Being Questioned, Sam Green, Seattle
• 2nd (tie) Women with Fox Souls, Sherry Rind, Seattle
• 3rd December, Anne Pitkin, Bellevue

Homer Henderson, Senior High (???, Judge)

• 1st Tender Foot, Janice Simpson, Seattle
• 2nd Self Portrait in Seven Facets, Heidi Henkel, Mercer Island
• 3rd (tie) Farmer, Stephanie Baker, Seattle
• 3rd (tie) Reflections Below Badger Pocket, Barbara Renfrow, Renton

Totem, Junior High (???, Judge)

• 1st Post Mortem, Nancy Freeman, Tacoma
• 2nd Sand Castles, Linda Stenger, Tacoma
• 3rd I Used To Wait All Year, Nancy Purcell, Burien

1977

William Stafford, Adult (???, Judge)

• 1st Decay, H. Porter Abbott, Santa Barbara, Ca
• 2nd Wood Stove: Fire in the Basement, Charlotte Warren, Sequim
• 3rd To My Grandfather, Linda Hyde, Rolling Bay

Homer Henderson, Senior High (???, Judge)

• 1st Saturday Poem, Paul Stark, Bellevue
• 2nd Endless Childhood, Lynn Jane Campos, Tacoma
• 3rd Last Gasp, Greg Costa, Seattle

Totem, Junior High (???, Judge)

• 1st Me: The Statue, Eric Gierke, Tacoma
• 2nd The Robot, Betsy Vincent, Tacoma
• 3rd Pilgrim Firs Summer Music, Stacey Johnston, Renton

1978

William Stafford, Adult (Knute Skinner, Judge)

• 1st Forever After, Edgar Prescott, Lacey
• 2nd ???, Lonnie Kaneko, Seattle
• 3rd The Token, Eugene Messer, Vancouver

Homer Henderson, Senior High (???, Judge)

• 1st New Man, Tim Abel, Seattle
• 2nd ???, Sarah Rekow, Bainbridge Island
• 3rd ???, Steve Hinson, Bellevue

Totem, Junior High (???, Judge)

• 1st For a Deaf Friend, Eric Gierke, Tacoma
• 2nd ???, Joe Ashing, Seattle
• 3rd ???, Rick Holtzapple, Vancouver

1979

At the moment, the WPA has no record of contest results for 1979. We're not sure if there were no contests this year, or if the results are simply not in our records. If you know if there was a contest held this year, and better yet, what the results were, please contact us.

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