The results of our first Short Story and Poetry Contest are in! We would like to congratulate the winners of this year’s competition for their creativity and skill at conveying emotion. We received fantastic submissions from the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela and are extremely grateful to each writer and poet for sharing their personal encounters with some of the Caribbean’s best birds.
We decided to host this short story and poetry contest as a way to highlight this year’s Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival theme “Loving Bird is Human Nature” by documenting the powerfully innate connection we have with birds. The result was an overwhelmingly talented pool of writers and poets, and outstanding stories and poems to choose from.
Short Story Winners
We are pleased to announce that the short story winners are:
1st Place: “Pájaro Bobo ¿Dónde estás?” by Giselle Hernández (Dominican Republic)
2nd Place: “L’Oiseau” by Natallia Green (Jamaica)
3rd Place: “The Root of the Murder” by Chloe Bramble (Antigua and Barbuda)
The following stories also captivated the judges and they received Honorable Mentions:: “Jairo y el Frailecito” by Yohana Rivero Pérez (Venezuela), “Hide and Seek” by Adriana Cintrón (Puerto Rico) and “Guerreras del aire” by Alicia Marlene Ríos Pérez (Cuba).
Poetry Winners
And the poetry winners are:
1st Place: “To Wonder At Birds” by Brianna Salmon (Jamaica)
2nd Place: “Paloma Querida” by Wanda I. Rodríguez López (Puerto Rico)
3rd Place: “Bird Love” by Yashid Charles (St Lucia)
The judges believed the following poets were also able to powerfully express their ideas and emotions, and they received “Honorable Mentions.”: “Up Close First Encounter” by Alliah Francis (Jamaica), “Las aves de paso” by Yamilaiki Osorio Sánchez (Cuba) and “Miradas al mar” by Génesis Parra Rivero (Venezuela).
The entire CEBF team offers a sincere thanks to everyone who submitted. We invite you to read all submissions, including the winning short stories and poems in both Spanish and English, at this link OR click on the book below. to view here!
We would love to see this collection of short stories and poems grow! Please contact Aliya.Hosein@birdscaribbean.org and info@birdscaribbean.org if you would like to contribute a short story, poem, or both!