2020 Poetry Competition Winners

THE WINNERS ARE IN …

 

First, Friends of Falun Gong thanks all its poet participants. We received some great submissions in the adult category. It was a delight to read so many touching and well-crafted poems. Our list of contest winners and honorable mentions are below, with easy, clickable links to the poems. We happily publish these poems today to help commemorate World Falun Dafa Day, 2020.

 

ADULT AWARDS

 

1st Place – $500

Rob Crisell, “The Virus and the Cure”

2nd Place – $250

Jeff Kemper, “The Odyssey of Sunny Guo”

3rd Place – $100

Raymond Gallucci, “Full On and Still Going” and “Shoe Biz”

4th Place

Peter Austin, “Its One Mistake”

 

Honorable Mentions | Adult

Susan Jarvis Bryant, “Beef” and “The Price”

Talbot Hook, “Asking Price” and “What All Tyrants Know”

Theresa Rodriguez, “The Will of Falun Gong”

Don Shook, “Falun Gong Extant” and “Beyond All Tears”

Honorable Mention | High School

Alexandra Neal, “Turning a Blind Eye: A Prejudice Crisis”

 

Contest Judges

 

Evan Mantyk, President of The Society of Classical Poets

(with additional helpful eyes from the FoFG Editorial Staff)

Note from the Editors: most of these poems were written by poets who just recently learned about Falun Gong and the persecution. While we recognize and commend these poems as voices of support, they do not represent Falun Gong itself or even the views of FoFG as an organization. For a genuine understanding of the practice, one would have to explore the teachings at their very source.