Searching for Answers in Faith, Poetry, and the Empty Forest

Calloway Song, winner of the 18th Annual Writer's Digest Poetry Awards, shares the story behind his winning poem, "Songs of Gideon."

- Robert Lee Brewer

One of my favorite things to do each year is choosing the winner of the Writer's Digest Poetry Awards. In 2023, there were more than 900 entries covering a range of forms, subjects, issues, and themes. In the end, I selected Calloway Song's "Songs of Gideon" for the First Place Prize of $1,000, publication in Writer's Digest, and a 20-minute consultation with yours truly.

Calloway Song is a writer and poet from the Bay Area who is pursuing a BA in linguistics from Duke University. For me, his poem "Songs of Gideon" feels like an earnest attempt to wrestle with the paradox of trying to reason one's way to faith. The slashes help break up ideas and language and force me to consider each separately and together. As with many great poems, I leave it with more questions than answers.

Here's a quick Q&A with poet Calloway Song.

What are you currently up to?

My frequency of writing can likely be graphed as a wave function. Some days, I will write enough poems to fill up half a notebook (most of which I end up salvaging). Most other days, I just try to appreciate the things I write. Life is too short to put yourself down all the time.

How long have you been writing?