2026 Sonnet Contest Winners

2026 Sonnet Contest Winners

(The sonnets are published in a flipbook. Click here to read all of the winning sonnets.)

TOP FOUR

Pelvic: Never Let Me Go — Marty Krasney (Sausalito, California)

The Beacon on the Iron Coast — Muskan Kumari (Ara, Bihar, India)

Pasar Malam — Li Ying Lim (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia)

The Gardener’s Last Dance — Stephen Yarbrough (Greensboro, North Carolina)

REGIONAL

“I prithee, join me” — Nicole Buchholz (Saint Paul, Minnesota)

Drift — Libby Falk Jones (Northfield, Minnesota)

Looking Across — Scott Lowery (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

Hastings — David Southward (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

YOUTH
[entrants high school and under]

A Study of Appearance — Samantha Bernard (West Covina, California)

Inventory, 2026 — Lleyton Kane (Centerville, Georgia)

Skewed Chopsticks — Reyansh Malla (Palo Alto, California)

Winter Semester — Ethan Na (Cerritos, California)

LAUREATES' CHOICE

That Same Smalltown Bar, Again — Charlotte Blair (Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada)

Renée — Paul Buchheit (Chicago, Illinois)

Alzheimer’s Palindrome — Enriqueta Carrington (Highland Park, New Jersey)

Courtiers — Michael Fleming (Brattleboro, Vermont)

Tightrope — Michael Harty (Prairie Village, Kansas)

A Bumper Crop — Carl Kinsky (Ste. Genevieve, Missouri)

Domus Aurea Days — Libby Maxey (Conway, Massachusetts)

All creatures great and small — Steven Monte (New York, New York)

Ghost Light — Brian Mulholland (Cincinnati, Ohio)

Kindling — Adam Porkolab (Pécs, Hungary)

The Beekeeper — Eva Samuel (Alpharetta, Georgia)

Anatomical Theater (1594), University of Padua — Julie Steiner (Del Mar, California)

THE NEW COLOSSUS — Michael Stalcup (Nongbon, Prawet, Bangkok)

Reassurances — Chad Trevitte (Harrisonburg, Virginia)

Can Angels Boogie on the Head of a Pin? — Michael Waterson (Napa, California)

Autistic Talk — Theresa Werba (Spring City, Pennsylvania)