The winners of the second annual Carol E. Doering Memorial Poetry Contest (2009) are as as follows:

The first place prize of $100 was awarded to Joanne Riley Clarkson of Olympia, WA for "Drawing Madonnas".

The second place winner, Chris Staubach of Niantic, CT will received $75 for “Poem Diary”.

“Caregiver” by Elizabeth Thomas will receive $50 for third place.

Honorable mentions include: "If Autumn Came Too Soon" by Laura de Seville of Simi Valley and "Emily Dickinson's Wild Flowers" by Deborah Doolittle of Jacksonville, NC.

Clarkson additionally entered “Georgia’s Bone,” and “Blossom Weather” which were also chosen as honorable mention winners. She has Master’s Degrees in both English and Library Science and worked for 20 years as a librarian. After caring for her mother through a long illness, she re-careered as a RN and has worked mainly with Hospice for the past 8 years. She currently owns a consulting business that supports caregivers of the elderly. Poetry reading and writing has been the one constant in Clarkson’s life. She has written three chapbooks of poetry: Earth Tones (Seattle University Press), Pacing the Moon (Chantry Press), and Crossing Without Daughters (March Street Press). Her poems and non-fiction pieces have appeared in over 100 journals. Many of her poems feature women’s themes and center on memories of her mother and grandmother.