White Mice Poetry Contest

The White Mice Poetry Contest

“No, you should have picked one from a poem
Being written softly with a brush–
The breathless ideogram for love we writers hunt.”

—Lawrence Durrell, “A Bowl of Roses”

The International Lawrence Durrell Society is pleased to announce the 2023 White Mice Poetry Contest.  Starting September 1, 2023, we welcome submissions of 1-3 unpublished poems on the theme of “Ruins” (either literal or metaphorical). There is NO ENTRY FEE.

Winners of the 2023 contest will receive the following awards:

A) A one-year membership to the International Lawrence Durrell Society;
B) An invitation to read at a special poetry event to be held in Athens, Greece in July 2024;
C) Publication on the International Lawrence Durrell Society website (www.lawrencedurrell.org); and
D) Publication in the ILDS print publication, Deus Loci.

Manuscripts should adhere to the following guidelines:
1) Poems must not have been published anywhere, either online or in print;
2) Poems should be in 12-point type and left justified;
3) Only one poem per page;
4) No author identification can appear on any of the poems. Contact information should be included in the accompanying email;
5) Poems of all styles are welcome, but defamatory language of any kind should be avoided;
6) Any entry violating these guidelines will be disqualified.

Send email submissions to the Contest Coordinator.

FINAL DEADLINE IS MIDNIGHT on OCTOBER 31, 2023.

Winners of the 2021 White Poetry Contest

The theme for the 2021 contest was “History Revisited,” in connection with the pandemic-delayed ILDS conference to be held in Toulouse, France, June 2022.

First Prize:

“Flora” by Jesse Arthur Stone (Hedgesville, WV)

Second Prize:

“Army Chaplain receives news of the death of Ezra Pound, November 1, 1972” by Jane Mary Curran (Asheville, NC)

Third Prize:

“The Hartford Railroad Disaster, 1877” by Laura Budofsky Wisniewski (Hinesburg, VT)

Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order by author name):

“Are We Here Yet?” by Patridge Boswell (Woodstock, NY) and “Legacy” by George Held

To read the introductory essay and prize-winning poems, click here.

Winners of the 2019 White Mice Contest

The theme for the 2019 White Mice Poetry Contest was “The Heavens,” in connection with the 2020 ILDS Conference in Toulouse, France, and the winners are:

First Prize:

“Reflections of an Astronaut, Looking Down on Earth Below
(a love song),” by Daisy Bassen (East Greenwich, RI)

Second Prize:

“August Missions,” by Daryl Scroggins (Marfa, TX)

Third Prize:

“Slippages,” by Jesse Arthur Stone (Hedgesville, WV)

Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order by author name):

“Traveller,” by Graham Burchell (South Brent, Devon, UK)

“Filling in the Spaces,” by Marie Henry (San Rafael, CA)

“Haiku in Terza Rima,” by Katharyn Howd Machan (Ithaca, NY)

Finalists (in alphabetical order by author name): Bo Niles, Rev. Jennifer M. Phillips, Marjorie Stamm Rosenfeld, and Eileen Van Hook (two poems).

To read the introductory essay and prize-winning poems, click here.

Winners of the 2017 White Mice Contest

The theme for 2017 was “Harbor,” in connection with the 2018 ILDS Conference in Chicago, and the winners are:

First Prize:

“I remember,” by Malcolm Miller (Salem, MA)

Second Prize:

“The Leaky Boat,” by Rachel Michaud (Washington, DC)

Third Prize:

“She Sails,” by Paul Jones (Chapel Hill, NC)

Honorable Mentions (listed alphabetically by title):

“Land,” by Katharyn Howd Machan (Ithaca, NY)
“Waiting for the Tsunami,” by Nancy Cook (St. Paul, MN)

The winning poets will be invited to read on Thursday, July 5, 2018 at the Poetry Foundation during the conference of the International Lawrence Durrell Society in Chicago.  Their poems will be printed in a future issue of Deus Loci.

Thanks to all poets who submitted their work.  The judges read the entries with care and had difficulty coming to a consensus.

To read the prize-winning poems, click here.

Winners of the 2015 White Mice Contest

We are happy to announce the winners of the 2015 White Mice Poetry Contest.  To read the prize-winning poems, click here.

First Prize:

“The Color Hazel” by Stephen J. Kudliss

Second Prize:

“What We Swallowed” by John Davis

Honorable Mentions (listed alphabetically by title):

“Drinking Much Wine from a Glass My Ex-Lover” by Katharyn Howd Machan
“Lunch on Poros” by Dr. Anthony Hirst

Winners of the 2013 White Mice Contest

We are happy to announce the winners of the 2013 White Mice Poetry Contest.  To read the prize-winning poems, click here.

First Prize (shared):

“Stray Goats on a Barrier Island” by Michael Colonnes
“Night Crossing” by Kateri Kosek

Third Prize:

“Storm at Sea” by Kateri Kosek

Honorable Mentions (listed alphabetically by title):

“On Skyros: Grey Stone Beach” by Katharyn Howd Machan
“Two Worlds” by John Laue
“When Demolishing a Beach House on Pine Island, Michigan” by Michael Colonnese

“Words I carry in my pocket,
where they breed like white mice.”

—Lawrence Durrell to Henry Miller