The 2026 Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest Winners

From the Editor’s Desk

The New Quarterly is pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest!

Winner

Maria Giesbrecht “Sestina for Escape”

 

Runner-Up

Betsy Struthers “The Ice Age”

 

Second Runner-Ups

Leland Nicholas “Sea Brain”

Jonathan Powers “Climbing In”

 

Honourable Mentions

Dagne Forrest “Again, with the Waiting”

Bernadette Hendrickx “Early August Days”

Alexander Hollenberg “Golden Shovel, on the Occasion of the Marion Island Extermination Project”

Y S Lee “Year of the Horse”

Nadja Lubiw-Hazard “Earthing”

Sneha Madhavan-Reese “Initial Conditions”

Sneha Madhavan-Reese “Kizhakkumkara House, Karamvely”

Jade Palmer “Car Crash in Front of the Roadside Strawberry Stand”

Ken Victor “At Playa Carillo”

We look forward to publishing these poems. 

Thank you to all of the wonderful poets who submitted.