2018 Poetry Competition Winners
THE WINNERS ARE IN …
First, Friends of Falun Gong thanks all its poet participants. This contest was a great success as we received an abundance of submissions in all three categories. 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, 2018.
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ADULT AWARDS
1st Place – $500
2nd Place – $250
Pax Chmara, “Forbearance and Truth”
Michael Charles Maibach, “Free the Falun Gong”
3rd Place – $150
Honorable Mentions | Adult
Remy Dambron, “Peace Needs Help”
Jonathan Weinberg, “Practitioner”
Phillip Whidden, “Compassion, the Heart of Forbearance and Truth”
Jose Rizal M. Reyes, “Let’s Not Forget the Falun Gong, Oh Please!”
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COLLEGE STUDENT AWARDS
1st Place – $250
Alyssa Roat, “No Voice for the Quiet”
2nd Place – $100
Honorable Mentions | College
Zoë Nicole Mugoni, “World Don’t Watch”
Mary Elizabeth Wissemann, “The College Falun Gong”
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HIGH SCHOOL AWARDS
1st Place – $100
Beckham Lawre, “Last Words of a 15-year-old Falun Gong Youth”
2nd Place – $50
Mahnoor Atta, “The Echo of Hope”
Honorable Mentions | High School
Piper Haitsuka, “Falun Gong’s Ability”
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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.