Penrose Poetry Prize: Awarded for Excellence in Poetry from LGBTQIA+ Writers
$200, $100, and $50 cash awards to three winners with works to be published
with a special note on the first place work from our guest judge. 

From Guest Judge Isaura Ren on Submissions: “I'm so thrilled and honored to have reviewed these writers' work. Thank you for making this hard on me; all of these finalists brought something new and wonderful to the table!”

From the Editors: “Huge thank you to everyone who is willing to share their work with us for this contest and year round! We love getting to know everyone through their writing and we are grateful for the time we were able to spend with so much wonderful work. We are honored to be able to highlight the selected artists and we hope you enjoy the work as much as we do.”

On First Place Winner: Nnadi Samuel’s “Chaos Theory”
- From Judge Isaura Ren

“Nnadi Samuel's "Chaos Theory" is at once a disclosure of pain and a gesture toward change. Searing yet gentle, reeling yet hopeful, this poem is a torch with which to survive the cold. Samuel's revelations leap from the page, casting sparks into every dark corner, drawing out our own shadows. In this new light, we see that our queerness, our transness, and our shared humanity burn brighter than ever.”

Isaura Ren (they/them) is a queer poet, editor, and graphic designer from Northern California. They are the founding editor-in-chief of perhappened, an online journal and press. In their spare time, they read for Homology Lit, design for Wrongdoing Magazine and Von Aegir Literary, and take luxurious midday naps. Their poems have appeared in Parentheses Journal, Okay Donkey, Rogue Agent Journal, and more. You can view their work at isauraren.weebly.com, portfolio here, and their Tweets at @isaurarenwrites.