Last year, on behalf of Elwood Writers, Barry Lee Thompson and I had the pleasure of judging submissions to the American Writers Review (AWR) annual literary contest. The editor of San Fedele Press, D Ferrara, themed the 2025 entries to both contest and anthology as ‘Buyers’ Remorse’.
Writers these days are encouraged to be good literary citizens, and we two readily agreed to be judges. What I hadn’t anticipated was the benefit to me of being on the other side of the submission process, or as Barry puts it, wearing the ‘reader’s hat’. All entrants remain anonymous in a range of genres, including fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, and last year’s new category, Drama/Monologue.
Interpretation of the theme varied markedly. It was fascinating to collaborate with another writer and see the submissions through their eyes. Barry and I settled on ‘The Clearing’, a short fiction by Maryam Imogen Ghouth, and a poem by Mary K. O’Melveny.
For me, poetry tugs at a deeper truth than even regular storytelling might allow. Delving into the lyrical prose and fantastical imagery of the poetry felt like diving into a sweet pond of water lilies and lotus flowers to discover the revelations that lie beneath. O’Melveny’s co-winning poem, ‘In My Dream, the US Fish & Wildlife Service Still Existed and I Could Read Its Biennial Butterfly Reports’, was a co-winner. At first, the poem reads as a list of descriptors of butterflies entering the dreamer’s ‘night’s gloom’ with a flourish of colour, perfume and wonderment. Then, as in all good poetry, something changes towards the end. Their individual characteristics meld to a rainbow of colour as the Melissa Blue dashes in, causing the narration to both collapse and yet soar at the same time, with the penultimate line, ‘Her beauty broke me.’
You can read this poem and all contributions to the ‘Buyers’ Remorse’ edition of AWR by purchasing a copy with a click here. As is often said, the best way to support writers is to read their work.
Elwood Writers is pleased to announce that this year’s AWR theme is ‘The Truth Will Set You Free’. Whether you enter the 2026 literary contest or submit to the anthology itself (or both), the judges and international editorial panel would love to read your work.
All details of the 2026 AWR contest and anthology, you’ll find here.
WRITINGS AND MUSINGS OF MARGARET MCCAFFREY 
I thoroughly enjoyed our collaboration and deliberations, Margaret. The quality of work submitted was exceptional, wasn’t it? Congratulations to everyone who took part, and especially to the writers of the winning pieces. Very well deserved.
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Such an interesting post, Margaret. Love how you describe your experience of poetry and the impact of the winning poem. Thanks for representing the group in this exciting initiative, and continuing our history of working with San Fedele Press. We’ll reblog this content to the EW site shortly.
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