We could not be more excited to announce the winner (and finalists) of Indiana Review’s 2013 Poetry Prize! We received hundreds of submissions, which were read anonymously, and the final winner was selected by contest judge Nikky Finney.

2013 Indiana Review Poetry Prize Winner

“The Gun Joke”

Jamaal May

Runners-Up

“Jezebel Revisits the Book of Kings”

Jeanann Verlee

“A Meditation in Time of War”

Eric Weinstein

When asked to say a few words of the winning piece, “The Gun Joke,” Nikky Finney writes:

This poem’s acuity has much to do with the human truth it reveals, in a new way, a determined, nuanced, beautiful, uncompromising way. THE GUN JOKE’S highly thoughtful word choice and graceful line decisions, the subtle but sacred repetition it evokes about the subject itself, all of this and more is built into this winning poem. Last but not least, it is often the courage of the poet who opens his mouth and boldly speaks into the dumbed-down news of last week, saying with each stroke of his pencil: Wait! Slow Down! This is not old news. This is now. Won’t you pay attention? Courage counts.

The winning poem will appear in Indiana Review 35.2, due out in Winter 2013. You can order a single issue or a subscription here.

A huge congratulations to our winner and runners-up, and a million more thanks to the hundreds of writers who submitted and made this contest a success! We appreciated the chance to read such varied, surprising and often wonderful work.

Finalists:

Brandon Amico, “The Pope Does Not Reply to My Tweets”

Melissa Barrett, “If I Were the Moon, I Know Where I Would Fall Down”

Annie Christain, “The Sect Which Pulls the Sinews: I’ve Seen You Handle Cocoons”

Jennifer Givhan, “Karaoke Night at the Asylum”

Alysia Harris, “Moths on Loan”

Rachel Katz, “Quickening”

Nate Marshall, “Palindrome”

Emily Skaja, “Poem to Drag Behind Your Chariot, Ramona”

Eric Weinstein, “This Is a Recording”