April is National Poetry Month.
Happy National Poetry Month! The National Social Work Poetry Contest is sponsored by the University of Iowa School of Social Work and The New Social Worker magazine, which has published the winning poems since 2015.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2025 contest!
First Place
I Will Hold Your Memories
by Amanda Lilly, MSW, CAPSWS
He spent summers hunting for Ellensburg blue agates
And he reminded me of my dad.
I know… countertransference.
But he smelled like Old Spice.
And rainy mornings.
And Alaska.
Knowing he would never have children, he rescued greyhounds.
I walked in and he let death sit with us
We drank tea. Always earl grey.
He let me hold his history
deep in pockets like a burrow
-—the graves he dug in France.
He left with soldiers marching between his bedposts.
Now here I sit, holding my father’s hands, dense with the disease of forgetting
And once again, prepared to be, the keeper of memories.
Amanda Lilly, MSW, CAPSWS, Program and Field Coordinator at University of Wisconsin—Superior
Second Place
Nudity
by Dr. Kryss Shane, MBA, MS, MSW, LSW, LMSW (she/her)
They take them off for me,
one layer at a time
until there is nothing left but their bare
soul, mask finally removed in the safety of our work together.
For some, I stare, allowing them to feel seen perhaps for the first time.
For others, I avert my eyes, treating their authenticity with longed-for respect.
It breaks my heart to watch them as our time ticks down,
putting layer after layer back on
in preparation to again face the world.
I wonder sometimes if they realize
their vulnerability makes me braver too,
more able to lay bare for them,
more able to be present for them
in all the ways we both need from me.
Dr. Kryss Shane, MBA, MS, MSW, LSW, LMSW (she/her), MSW from Barry University (Miami Shores, FL), Program Director and Field Coordinator of Thomas University Social Work Program (Thomasville, GA)
Third Place
“Dualities”
by Sabrina Sullenberger, BASW, MSW, PhD
The sweetness of baby cheeks and
Sending my daughter to school the day after a shooting and
The inability of our state lawmakers to grasp that it is, in fact, the guns
We are all vulnerable here and
There is so much beauty
“Two can be true,” they say.
I believe in dignity and worth of all and
Some days I just (kind of) don’t like people and
There are systems of oppression I don’t have the right language to speak to
I have seen the heavy burdens laid on people and
I have seen people walk extra miles for others, real and metaphorically
“Two can be true,” they say.
I am a person of hope and
There are days I (temporarily) lose my way.
“Two can be true,” they say.
Sabrina Sullenberger, BASW, University of Memphis, MSW, University of Tennessee, PhD-SW, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Professor and BSW Program Director, Belmont University
Honorable Mention
Rose and Eleanor at the Senior Center
by Hadassah Margolis, LICSW
Two sisters.
One gray-haired and crisp,
the other a blurred white copy, always a pace behind.
Rose, sizing me up, would say, “You look just lovely, dear.”
Eleanor would catch up and softly parrot, “just lovely, dear.”
So when Eleanor took her first step ever, and died,
it was a shock to all.
Rose is still around, never having learned how to be next.
Hadassah Margolis, LICSW, MSW, Simmons School of Social Work
Judges
Stephen Cummings, Associate Clinical Professor, University of Iowa. One of the most important qualities of any social worker is their ability to connect with their creative selves. One of the most enriching experiences I had as a social work graduate student was the Creative Writing Institute, which taught me how creative writing (and reading) was an essential part of critical thinking. I write for myself; I write for the public; I write for meditation; I write for clarity.
Sharaine Webster, Assistant Clinical Professor, University of Iowa. Sharaine Webster is a professor at the University of Iowa School of Social Work and owns her own mental health practice in Iowa with a passion for creative writing. She has experience in poetry, short stories, and articles for NASW National, the NASW Iowa Chapter, and local publications (Des Moines Urban Experience, Black Iowa News, and others). Currently, she is working on a creative writing project focused on the social work experience, set to be completed by the end of 2025.
Andrea Wilson, MSW/PhD student, University of Iowa. Andrea Wilson is a narrative therapy practitioner who helps her clients live into new stories. She is currently at the University of Iowa School of Social Work developing intervention innovations at the intersection of social work, therapeutic mental health interventions, and creative writing. More about her narrative work can be found on her website at www.livinganewstory.com
Mercedes Bern-Klug, Professor, University of Iowa School of Social Work. Co-founder, National Social Work Poetry Contest. John A. Hartford Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholar.
Deadline for the 2026 National Social Work Poetry Contest: January 30, 2026
Entries may be submitted beginning November 1, 2025, through the University of Iowa School of Social Work website, where you can find more information (under resources).