Previous Winners

2021 Balocating Prize Winner

Congratulations to Mira Blankenship, whose poem "We're so glad you're here, Angelica." was chosen by Marilyn Nelson as the 2021 Annie Balocating Undergraduate Prize for Poetry winner.

Mira was awarded $500 and read their winning poem at Marilyn Nelson's reading on April 7, 2021.

View a recording of the announcement here (announcement begins at 4:47).

"We're so glad you're here, Angelica."

You Angelica

You interrupter

You rude piratess

You disrupter of flow

You bluetooth blooper

You hoarder of memories

You eliminator of confort

You workplace hazardizer

You dangler of fairy food

You stained storage locker

You executor of headaches

You em-bodier of frustration

You cacophonous confronter

You disrespecter of bandwidth

You stealer of familiar comfort

You historian of repetitive worlds

You bringer of hazy twilight anxiety

You surrounder of confrontational noise

You counter of letters and cold expressions

You covetously-cruel factory production manager

You consumer of some spoons and waster of others

You time-stopping progress-halting wretch of dysregulation

You

Yeah you

Stay away from me

At least 6 feet

***