Lyrical Iowa Competition
Lyrical Iowa is an annual anthology of 300 or more poems chosen from those submitted to the competitions listed below. Contests are open to all persons with an Iowa address; you do not need to be a member of the Association. No entry fee. Contest is open January 1 through February 28.
2025 Lyrical Iowa Winners - Adult Division
Lucille Morgan Wilson Award
Judge: Christine Stewart-Nunez (Winnipeg, MB Canada)
Sponsored by: Jerrold Narland, IPA Past President
Entries: 568
1st: Dawn Terpstra (Lynnville)
2nd: Aaron D. Wiegert (Des Moines)
3rd: Shelly Reed thieman (West Des Moines)
1st Honorable Mention: Douglas L. Miller (Solon)
2nd Honorable Mention: Dale G. Haake (Davenport)
3rd Honorable Mention: Heather Ann G. Clark (Des Moines)
Rodney Reeves Memorial Award
Provided by:
In honor of IPA's friend Rodney Reeves who was a decades-long member and served as the IPA Board's First Vice President.
Kathy Geren Christy (Oskaloosa)
Traditional Forms
Judge: John Sibley Williams (Milwaukie, OR)
Sponsored by: Society of Great River Poets
Entries: 31
1st: Lori Shannon (Manning)
2nd: Erin Caldwell (Cedar Falls)
3rd: Mike Wilson (Des Moines)
1st Honorable Mention: Kathleen Stauffer (Osage)
2nd Honorable Mention: Joshua Borgmann (Creston)
3rd Honorable Mention: Cecile Goding (Iowa City)
Poems FOR Children
Judge: Dorothia Rohner (Eyota, MN)
Sponsored by: Investment gift of William Godfrey
Entries: 40
1st: Daniel Nieland (Windsor Heights)
2nd: Jan Blankenburg (Donnellson)
3rd: Yvonne Breiner (Muscatine)
1st Honorable Mention: Nancy Hanaman (Rippey)
2nd Honorable Mention: Linda Shivvers (Des Moines)
3rd Honorable Mention: Jo Ann Benda (Iowa City)
Humorous
Judge: Matt Mason (Omaha, NE)
Sponsored by: Kathy Geren Christy in honor of the poets who make us smile
Entries: 64
1st: Karen Schmitt (Solon)
2nd: Milli Gilbaugh (Iowa City)
3rd: Hilary Naab (Monticello)
1st Honorable Mention: Steven Thompson (Osage)
2nd Honorable Mention: Audrey Mueller (DeWitt)
3rd Honorable Mention: Alanna Clutter (Des Moines)
Special Award: First-Time Entrant
Provided by: Shelly Reed Thieman
In honor of all the poets gone before us and in celebration of those with whom we still work
Kelly Madigan (Castana)
Grant Wood Country Poetry Award
Judge: Iowa Poet Laureate Vince Gotera (Waterloo)
Sponsored by: Grant Wood Country Forum, an online art-history-culture-creative-writing community
Entries: 25
1st: Lori Culbertson Harris (Cedar Falls)
2nd: Jim Hackett (Cedar Rapids)
3rd: Richard Ramsey (Des Moines)
1st Honorable Mention: Thomas Havran (Amana)
2nd Honorable Mention: Caitlin Timmins (West Des Moines)
3rd Honorable Mention: Barbara Edler (Keokuk)
Haiku
Judge: Michael Dylan Welch (Sammamish, WA)
Underwritten by: Maggie Westvold, in memory of a dear friend and poet Dorothy Fyfe
Entries: 122
1st: Ashley WolfTornabane (Storm Lake)
2nd: Mike Lindseth (Primghar)
3rd: Roberta Beach Jacobson (Indianola)
1st Honorable Mention: Angela McGlothlen (Cedar Rapids)
2nd Honorable Mention: Talbot Hook (Newton)
3rd Honorable Mention: William Dall (Dubuque)
National/World Events
Judge: Robbin Farr (Doylestown, PA)
Sponsored by: The family of Carl Stiefel in his memory
Entries: 27
1st: Kathy Meyer (Winterset)
2nd: Carol Tyx (Iowa City)
3rd: Robert P. Hansen (Brayton)
1st Honorable Mention: Joy Neal Kidney (West Des Moines)
2nd Honorable Mention: Linda E. Paul (Iowa City)
3rd Honorable Mention: Janet Carl (Grinnell)
2025 Lyrical Iowa Winners - Student Division
Student division awards are sponsored by the Albert Lyell & Jauvanta M. Walker Endowment Fund, by memorial gifts from family and friends of Virginia Blanck Moore and by a bequest of Marie Jacobsen.
College
Judge: Katie Ford (South Pasadena, CA)
Entries: 84
1st: Malachi Myers (Marion, SD), Dordt University
2nd: Lívia Stein Freitas (Curitiba, Brazil), Grinnell College
3rd: Clark Stiemsma (Sioux Center), Dordt University
1st Honorable Mention: Tim DeVries (Lake Geneva, WI) Dordt University
2nd Honorable Mention: Claudia Ortiz-Valencia (Des Moines, IA), Grand View University
3rd Honorable Mention: Marika Moore (Alcester, SD), Dordt University
Upper Grades (5-8)
Judge: Rober Schinzel (Argyle, TX)
Entries: 288
1st: Cadence Schwab (Osage), Grade 6, Osage Community School
2nd: Wren Haenfler (Grinnell), Grade 6, Grinnell Middle School
3rd: Aila Plein (Burlington), Grade 6, Aldo Leopold Intermediate
1st Honorable Mention: Maggie Lindberg (Grinnell), Grade 6, Grinnell Middle School
2nd Honorable Mention: Megan Guertin (Bondurant), Grade 6, Bondurant-Farrar
3rd Honorable Mention: Avery Zivney (Bondurant), Grade 5, Bondurant-Farrar
High School
Judge: Levi Lyle (Keota, IA)
Entries: 164
1st: Annchi Shaw (Des Moines), Grade 11, North High School
2nd: Jordan McCool (Atlantic), Grade 10, Atlantic High School
3rd: Kale Dawson (Hamburg), Grade 11, Hamburg Charter School
1st Honorable Mention: Annabelle Shoemate (Chariton), Grade 11, Chariton High School
2nd Honorable Mention: Olivia Johnson (Council Bluffs), Grade 11, St. Albert High School
3rd Honorable Mention: Molly Wise (Council Bluffs), Grade 11, St. Albert High School
Lower Grades (K-4)
Judge: Robert Schinzel (Argyle, TX)
Entries: 114
1st: Owen DeFont (Bondurant), Grade 3, Anderson Elementary
2nd: Adrianna Hill (Bondurant), Grade 4, Anderson Elementary
3rd: Rafe Morriss (Maquoketa), Grade 1, Cardinal Elementary
1st Honorable Mention: Collin Wesley (Bondurant), Grade 3, Anderson Elementary
2nd Honorable Mention: Belle Kiel (Maquoketa), Grade 1, Cardinal Elementary
3rd Honorable Mention: Rhett Davison (Bondurant), Grade 3, Anderson Elementary