Announcements
The IWA will conduct the 8th Annual IWA Poetry Contest in April 2012. This year's contest is a themed contest, with Taqwa (or piety) as the general theme.
Submission Guidelines
For submission guidelines for the IWA 8th Annual Poetry Contest, 2012, please go here.
IWA Poetry Contest Winners
2011
IWA Member Category
Sheriff Olanrewaju of Nigeria, for Al-Alim-il-Munafeeq (The Hypocritical Elite)
Youth Category
Fatuma Qurane of US, for for Have You Seen
Adult Category
Sajida Mohammed of UK, for And It Is
Congratulations to the winners!
2010
Adult Category Winner
Farah Razeena Abduz-Zahir for Cherry Blossom
Youth Category Winner
Haseena Abdur-Rahman for A Simple Piece of Cloth
IWA Member Category Winner
Enith Morillo for Daddy
Congratulaions to the winners, and our thanks to all those who participated by submitting to the contest, as well as much thanks to the judges. Three judges had been contracted originally, with the need for an alternate in addition due to the unexpected need in extending the deadline of this year's contest.
Dr. Mohja Kahf: poet author of "Girl in the Tangerine Scarf" and "Emails from Scheherazad"
Dima Hilal: writer and poet with her work appearing in Aramco, The Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology, edited by Nathalie Handal (Interlink Books, 2001) and Scheherazade's Legacy: Arab and Arab American Women on Writing, (Praeger, 2004).
Karen English: author of several children's books including award winning "Francie", "Speak to me and I will listen between the lines" and "Nadia's Hands".
Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood: British Muslim author of over 40 books on various topics in Islam and developer of a textbook "Islam" used in UK schools for 20 years.
2009
Adult Category Winner
Ertan Karpazli for Earthquake
Youth Category Winner
Saara Khalid for The Pen and Sword
IWA Member Category Winner
Marwa Elnaggar for The Key
Many thanks to the judges of the 2009 Poetry Contest:
Adult Judge: Brother Dash - Dasham Brookins, MuslimPoet.com
IWA Member Judge: Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore
Youth Category Judge: Karen English, Children's Author
2008
Adult Category Winner:
First Place: Sara Younis for My Iman Lies Within Me
IWA Member Category Winner:
First Place: Camilla Sayf for A Haiku
Youth Category Winner:
First Place: Ayesha Ni'mat Fulani for What is Iman?
Judging for the 2008 IWA Poetry Contest was done by a public vote,
allowing public viewing of all entries and holding an online voting poll.
2007
Adult Category Winner
First Place: Yahia Samir Lababidi for Desert Revisited
IWA Member Category Winner
First Place: Julinar Diab for Unequal
Youth Category Winners:
First Place: Raneen Hijazi for My Birthday
and
First Place: Nabeela Dana for Snow
2006
Adult Category Non-IWA Member Winners
First Place: Juli Herman for More than a Prophet
and
First Place: Sister L. Bayaa for Sadaqa ar Rasool
IWA Member Category Winner
First Place: Karen English for Muhammad
Youth Category Winner
First Place: Mohamed Ali for Beginning to End
Child Category Winner
First Winner: Sabahat Fatima for I Love Mohammed
Many thanks to the judges for the 2006 Poetry Contest:
Rukhsana Khan, author
Samantha Sanchez, poet
Dasham Brookins, MuslimPoet.com
2005
Adult Category Winner
First Place: Corey Habbas for Olives Under Stones
YouthCategory Winner
First Place: Kloude for The Boy Warrior