1. "I hope" by

This poem was... beautiful. It made us tear up--and honestly, it was just so important. This is what everyone needs to hear in their lives--feel free to find this poem in the comments of the previous contest, or in her book by the same title as the poem (it's in our winner's reading list, which you should just in general check out to be honest) because it.is.amazing. :)

2. "Ode to Myself" by

Also amazing! In this poem, we loved... just everything about it. The lines flowed together so well, there weren't any parts that weren't necessary, and it's clear you'd put a lot of work into the poem--both technically and artistically, it was amazing. (Plus also being really impactful and moving.)

3. and

Okay, we loved both of these poems so much that we had to give you a tie. Because we're soft like that. If you wrote "migration" we loved how you wrote about an important issue. It wasn't what we were expecting in terms of how people would interpret the prompt, but in a good way--it took us by surprise, and it made us feel something, and it shone light on something that the world really needs to remember. And if you wrote "Paper Birds" you are an amazing human being who deserves to be smushed in a hug for eternity—this poem was beautiful and moving. Both of these poems were so well-done!

All of these entries were literally so good and choosing was SO hard. Ideally, we would have a place for all of you so we could just shout your amazingness out into oblivion because seriously, you're awesome. There was not a single entry in this contest that wasn't amazing. We can't stress enough how good writers you all are--and we mean all

If you want any feedback on your work, whether you won or not, please send us a PM. And for those of you who have already won before and therefore have already been given some of the prizes, and want to negotiate a different prize to compensate, again, just send us a PM. And don't forget to claim your prize by commenting the pronouns you want us to use in your shoutout, as well as the book you want added to the winners reading list.

Keep creating,

the admins of the Echo Awards