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BlackBerryPeach 2020 Contest Winners Announced

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Poet Gary Ketchum selected first place winner of the 2020 prize; OPA's Susann Moeller earns Honorable Mention

The National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS) is pleased to announce the 1st place winner of the 2020 BlackBerryPeach Spoken and Heard competition, Gary Ketchum of New Port Richey, Florida. The BlackBerryPeach Contest is a major NFSPS competition that challenges poets to present their best original poetry in print and spoken word.

This year's judge, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer comments, "Poetry began, after all, as an oral and aural art and I love the way this contest harkins to those origins." A record number of entries this year is proof that interest in spoken word poetry continues to grow. Florida led the nation in number of entries, followed by Colorado and Ohio.

The second-place winner is Jessica Hassell of New Jersey, and third place goes to Amanda Bailey of Minnesota. The Honorable Mention Award winners are Josh Conklin of New Hampshire, Taelen Thomas of California, Dr. Susann Moeller of Ohio, and Melissa Huff of Illinois.

The National Federation of State Poetry Societies (nfsps.com) is a non-profit organization, exclusively educational and literary. Its purpose is to recognize the importance of poetry with respect to national cultural heritage. It is dedicated solely to the furtherance of poetry on the national level and serves to unite poets in the bonds of fellowship and understanding.

A video of the performances by the winners will be posted on YouTube and in addition to the oral versions, NFSPS will publish the prizewinning entries in a chap book that will be for sale on Amazon.com.

For questions or more information, contact: Joseph Cavanaugh, jcavanaugh1@gmail.com




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