Announcement of the 2024 Luminaire Poetry Award Winners & Finalists

We are thrilled to announce the winners and finalists for the 2024 Luminaire Award for Best Poetry! From more than 500 poems of all types, lengths, styles, and genres submitted to Alternating Current Press for the book prize, we narrowed the reading down to this shortlist of winners and finalists.

The Luminaire Award for Best Poetry is Alternating Current Press’ annual writing award to recognize the best poetry and hybrid work submitted to the press. First place receives $100 (upon publication), the top-5 pieces receive publication in the triennial print anthology, and all selections (including finalists) receive publication on The Coil.

Congrats to all these amazing authors, who made our job in deciding very difficult. We look forward to seeing these pieces on The Coil throughout the year.

First Place

“First Aid” by Philip Andrew Lisi

Second Place

“Bin ich dein Neger?” by Tara Campbell

Third Place

“That Woman” by Kate Segriff

Fourth Place

“[sic]stemic” by Dean Gessie

Fifth Place

“Cleaning the Orphanage” by Raymond Luczak

Finalists

“Three Photographs” by John Peter Beck
“Like HeLa Cells” by Kenny Bradley
“The Trouble with Pronouns” by Tara Campbell
“The Necessary Bodies of Others” by Kimberly Hall
“The same way” by Brandy Reinke
“Cherokee Nation as an Asheville Footnote” by Savannah Wade
“Know Your Blood” by Loren Walker