Amanda Valerie Judd wins the Library’s Spill the Ink Poetry Contest

Congratulations to Amanda Valerie Judd, adult winner of the Spill the Ink poetry contest, an all ages poetry contest that culminated in a celebratory public reading on Friday, April 29.

After a 25-year career as a paralegal, Amanda Valerie Judd returned to school to earn her AFA in Creative Writing from Normandale Community College. This Fall, she plans to attend Southern New Hampshire University and work toward her BA in Creative Writing. In 2020, she won the Patsy Lea Core Prize for Poetry. In 2021, her poem, “My Only Label” was nominated for “Best of the Net 2021.” Her work has been published or is forthcoming in PAN-O-PLY Magazine, MockingOwl Roost, Trouvaille Review, Prospectus, and Talking Stick 30.

In April, Amanda also participated in a writing workshop series and added a poem to North Liberty Branch’s Community Poet-Tree program.

*”O Center of My Universe” from “Do you spell role model role model or roll model” by Bob Hicok. **”Decades ago in Kalamazoo, when he was still” from “A visit to my pantheon reveals a hole in the sky” by Bob Hicok.