The Chrysalis BREW Project has announced the winners and finalists of the BREW Poetry Award 2026, celebrating poetry that reaches beyond words to capture emotion, experience, imagination, observation, and the many ways we make sense of being human.
This year’s award once again brought together poets from different backgrounds, generations, and stages of their literary journeys. From intimate reflections on youth and the passage of time to poems shaped by place, memory, and the natural world, the 2026 entries demonstrated the remarkable range and vitality of contemporary poetry.
This year’s BREW Poetry Award recognises poetry in two categories—Open and Tertiary—and presents both Judges’ Pick and Community’s Pick titles. There are no winners or finalists for the Primary and Secondary School categories in this award round. The Judges’ Pick recognises poems selected through the award’s judging process, while the Community’s Pick reflects the response of readers through views and comments.
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The Judges’ Poem and Poet of the Year
The Judges’ Poem and Poet of the Year
🏆 “Youth” by Bianca Black
The Chrysalis BREW Project is delighted to announce “Youth” by Bianca Black as the BREW Poetry Award 2026 Judges’ Poem of the Year, making Bianca Black the 2026 Judges’ Poet of the Year.
Selected from this year’s Judges’ Pick entries, Youth distinguished itself through the strength and integration of its poetic qualities. The judges’ decision considered the poem against the full range of BREW Poetry Award criteria, including creativity and originality, emotional impact, technical proficiency, depth and complexity, unity and coherence, language and imagery, resonance and relevance, voice and style, innovation and experimentation, and overall impact and memorability.
Why “Youth” was selected
Creativity and Originality
Youth approaches the experience of youth through a distinctive combination of imagery, atmosphere, movement, and reflection. Rather than presenting youth simply as an abstract idea, the poem gives it a tangible, sensory presence, allowing the reader to encounter it through moments, places, bodies, light, and the natural world. Its imaginative treatment gives the familiar theme a fresh poetic identity.
Emotional Impact
The poem carries an emotional quality that emerges organically from its images and observations. There is a sense of freedom, vitality, intimacy, and fleetingness within the work, creating an awareness that moments of youth are simultaneously lived in the present and transformed into memory. This gives the poem an emotional resonance that extends beyond its immediate subject.
Technical Proficiency
Black demonstrates a confident command of poetic language. Her word choices contribute to the poem’s atmosphere and movement, while its structure allows individual images and moments to accumulate into a coherent experience. The poem’s technical choices serve its meaning rather than drawing attention away from it.
Depth and Complexity
At its surface, Youth evokes a particular experience of being young, alive, and immersed in the moment. Beneath that surface, however, the poem engages with larger ideas about time, memory, identity, freedom, connection, and the inevitability of change. This layering gives the poem room for multiple readings and allows different readers to find their own points of connection.
Unity and Coherence
The poem maintains a strong internal relationship between its imagery, atmosphere, subject, and underlying message. Its individual elements contribute to a unified poetic experience rather than functioning as isolated images. The result is a work that feels deliberately composed from beginning to end.
Language and Imagery
One of the poem’s particular strengths is its sensory language. Black creates vivid impressions that allow readers to see, feel, and inhabit the world of the poem. The imagery does more than decorate the writing; it carries emotional and thematic meaning, helping transform an individual experience into something the reader can imaginatively share.
Resonance and Relevance
Although Youth is rooted in a particular emotional and experiential landscape, its concerns are universal. Questions of growing older, holding onto moments, experiencing freedom, forming connections, and recognising the passage of time are part of the human experience. This accessibility allows the poem to resonate beyond the circumstances in which it was written.
Voice and Style
Black demonstrates a distinctive poetic voice that is expressive without becoming overstated. The poem possesses a clear sense of personality and perspective, allowing the reader to recognise an individual consciousness behind the words. Its voice contributes significantly to the authenticity and immediacy of the work.
Innovation and Experimentation
The poem’s innovation lies not necessarily in abandoning conventional poetic forms, but in the way Black combines familiar poetic subjects with an imaginative sensory treatment. The work demonstrates how experimentation can occur through perspective, image, juxtaposition, and the movement of thought as much as through formal structure.
Impact and Memorability
Ultimately, Youth leaves an impression that extends beyond its final lines. Its images and reflections invite the reader to reconsider their own experiences of youth, time, memory, and fleeting moments. It is a poem that can continue to unfold in the reader’s mind after the reading has ended.
A poem that brings its elements together
What distinguished Youth for the judges was not simply one individual feature, but the way its many strengths work together. Its imagery supports its emotional landscape; its language strengthens its voice; its structure contributes to its coherence; and its exploration of youth opens into broader reflections on the human experience.
For the judges, this combination of originality, emotional resonance, technical control, depth, vivid imagery, distinctive voice, and lasting impact made Youth stand out as a complete and memorable poetic work.
Congratulations to Bianca Black, whose Youth has been selected as the BREW Poetry Award 2026 Judges’ Poem of the Year and whose achievement earns her the distinction of BREW Poetry Award 2026 Judges’ Poet of the Year.
All Winners and Finalists
Here’s this year’s complete list of winners and finalists:
- Judges’ Poem / Poet of the Year Winner – Youth / Bianca Black
- Community’s Poem / Poet of the Year Winner – THE ALMOST-PERSON / Sushanth Shyamsundar
- Judges’ Pick Category Winner:
- Open Category Winner: Youth / Bianca Black
- Community’s Pick Category Winners:
- Open Category Winner: THE ALMOST-PERSON / Sushanth Shyamsundar
- Tertiary School Category Winner: 1bd, 1ba, 1 paragraph / Waverly Vernon
- Educational Institution with Special Certificate of Recognition:
- School of the Art Institute of Chicago for 1bd, 1ba, 1 paragraph by Waverly Vernon
- Judges’ Pick Finalists:
- Community’s Pick Finalists:
- Youth / Bianca Black
- On My Way / Mike Marks
- Saltwind / P Prashant Singha
- ÌRÒKÒ ÀKÓKÒ (The Iroko Tree of Time) / Anselm Eme
- Kino / Thaise Lis Nascimento
- Unspinning / Monci Ellis Lee
- Selenophile / Laima Gulbe Testa
- The Sage Creek Thing / Magnus Briar
- Chocolate Road / Alice Hlidkova
Congratulations to these remarkable poets for their inspiring work and well-deserved recognition!
Important note: We will be contacting the winners and finalists within 1 week from today. If you are one of our winners and you cannot find our email by then in your Inbox, please check your Spam, Junk, or Trash folders. If you cannot find it still, please let us know through our Contact Form.
Complete List of Past Winners
To view the complete list of BREW Poetry Award finalists and winners, click here.
Press Release for This Year’s Announcement
Another version of this announcement appears or will also appear on more than 300 others news and media sites. The links to where the press release has been published are (or will appear) below. Note that the report below does not include sites where we have not confirmed that the press release has been published. For more information about our press releases, features, do’s, and don’t’s, please click here.
Other Winners’ Privileges
As part of their prize, all the winners and finalists of this year’s awards will also featured in an anthology. More details will be announced either this year or next year.
All winners and finalists 18 years old and above will also be automatically included as members of the BREW Laureate Council.
The following winners will also be submitted for the Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize:
- Youth by Bianca Black
- On My Way by Mark Marks
- Saltwind by P Prashant Singha
Our Sincere Thanks to the Judges
We extend our heartfelt appreciation to Timothy J Green, Yvette Rejuso, Joshua Kepfer, Mark Laurence Latowsky, Jan Harling, LindaAnn LoSchiavo, and to all members of the BREW Laureate Council who generously contributed their time, expertise, and thoughtful judgment to this round of the BREW Book, Blog, and Poetry Awards. We are deeply grateful for their dedication and for their important role in recognising and celebrating outstanding literary work.
Nominations are Open Year Round
BREW Poetry Award nominations are open all throughout the year. Nominate today!
About the Award
The BREW Poetry Award honours lyrical and rhythmic compositions that touch the soul. The award recognises poetry that fosters a close relationship between the poet and the reader by condensing feelings, experiences, and observations into a select few words. The honour acknowledges poetry’s ability to arouse feelings, spark ideas, and distill the essence of the human spirit.
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