2026 Poetry Contest Winners

On June 5th, 2026, the Clackamas Arts Alliance’s Literary Arts Committee hosted its 4th Annual Writing Contest.  The winners read their poems at the Milwaukie Poetry Series First Friday Reading and Open Mic, and Oregon Poet Laureate Emerita Paulann Petersen presented poetry awards.

The 2026 Poetry Contest Winners included:

• First Place: “Questions We Can’t Ask AI” – Molly Bray Yurovchak
• Runners-Up:
  – “Advice from a Dragonfly” – MC Reardon
  – “I Dreamt of Crows” – Jone MacCulloch
• Other Finalists:
  – “Lines on Fishing” – Jim Wolper
  – “Zigzag” – Tim Strzechowski
  – “1000 Buttons” – Taylor Donnelly

We welcome the community to download, read, and enjoy the six winning pieces. Simply hover over the boxes with the winner’s name and click the “READ IT” button. Please do not use or share these writing entries without the author’s expressed permission.

Thank you to our judge panelists, our Literary Arts Committee, Oregon Poet Laureate Emerita Paulann Petersen, the Milwaukie Poetry Series, Tom Hogan, and the St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church. And thank you to everyone who submitted poetry to this contest. 

Stay tuned to our 2027 contest announcement next year!