Congratulations to the Winners of the 2023 Magpie Award for Poetry!

Best of the Nest

We are delighted to announce the winner and runners-up of the 2023 Magpie Award for Poetry, with commentary from final judge Renée Sarojini Saklikar.

Look for these praise-worthy poems, coming up in Issue 40, Autumn 2023.

Winner: ‘octopus boy in winter’ by Claire Lawrence

~ “A beautiful and haunting use of form and repetition, with a narrative arc and a strong first-person point of view that retains freshness with nimble imagery.“

1st Runner-up: ‘How I Earned My Queer Card’ by Catherine Lewis

~ “[A] fascinating merge of the prose poem with a lyric voice; plus, a powerful witness. We see the speaker in this poem and they resonate.“

2nd Runner-up: ‘Perimeters’ by Mark Cameron

~ “Intriguing: an intellect’s approach to philosophy, packaged into a poem.“

Thank you to all submitting poets for sharing your words and supporting Pulp Literature!

Thank you to Renée, for once again lending your time and talent to the Magpies. And to our first judges, Emily Osborne and Daniel Cowper, for compiling such a stellar shortlist.

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Calling all flash writers: enter the Hummingbird Prize, open now!

For your chance to appear in the magazine — and to win $300! — enter the 2023 Hummingbird Flash Fiction Prize, open until June 15th.

For all the details, and to enter, visit the contest page.