Praising Connection in Poetry. Family, and Life

Purvi Shah, winner of the 17th Annual Writer's Digest Poetry Awards, shares the story behind her winning poem, "Helix of the gift, lineage song."

- ROBERT LEE BREWER

Picking the winner of the Writer's Digest Poetry Awards is always a delight, and this year was no exception. There were more than 800 entries in 2022 covering a range of forms, subjects, issues, and themes and a full spectrum of emotions. In the end, I selected Purvi Shah's "Helix of the gift, lineage song" for the first place prize of $1,000, publication in WD, and a 20-minute consultation with yours truly.

What spoke to me in the poem was the sense of connection and distance that many of us have felt since 2020-but also pairing that with the connection and distance of family migration, whether it's migration from one country and culture to another or even from one city to another. Then, add to that the sense of connection and distance between generations who love each other but see the world in different ways. For me, this poem does so much.

Here's a quick Q&A with poet Purvi Shah: 

What inspired this poem?

In March 2014, I was in a generative Cave Canem Writing Across Cultures workshop led by the inimitable Eduardo C. Corral with a number of beloved writers, including Saretta Morgan, Paul Hlava Ceballos, Miguel Ángel Ángeles, Aziza Barnes, Mahogany L. Browne, Amanda Calderon, Sarah Key, Benjamin Krusling, Ansley Moon, Timothy Ree, and Jenny Xie. "Helix of the gift, lineage song" emerged nearly 10 years ago from my actual experience FaceTiming with my father and Ba.