annette-gagliardi

Annette Gagliardi

AUTHOR. POET. TEACHER

I won the John C. Rezmerski first prize Award for my most recent book, Benevolence

Annette Gagliardi, winner of the 2026 John Rezmerski Manuscript Contest and Poet Laureate of the League of Minnesota Poets, writes poems that might be classified as religious, but don’t let that be a deterrent. Benevolence is a gorgeous collection that examines the uncertainties, joys, and muddled, middle ground of being human in our fraught world. Gagliardi’s poems flourish as they address the temporary nature of human existence and the unending beauty of the natural world; as they deftly hone in on emotions and senses, questioning both the tangible and intangible aspects of living.

“Belief, seeps into loam, / breaths into mist, digs into bones.” It was the voice that stayed with me. I felt a resonance with the long journey of faith. Benevolence is a poetic documentary. A road map of the loops and turns of belief. Religion is hard to write about without sentimentality and preachiness. But Gagliardi’s words are subtle. “I listen to the slide of thread pulled taunt / through cotton. The needle prick, knot secured, transports / me back to childhood, back to the summer porch / watching a quilt take shape in patterns of sound and silence.” It is a still small voice in a noisy world amid “the hazards of living today.” I felt the cohesiveness of the collection. So many passages stuck “like glue.” The moon compared to a mansion— “a big white mansion dipped in black water.” Here there is a fresh hand on ordinary observations and events. Here there is reiteration of the need for something fundamental. which often gets swept aside or ignored altogether. It is along the tracks of language that this train of benevolence moves. Watching it pass, I picked up on the assurance that words can have. In a later poem, “Hecatomb,” “perhaps fifty bees / lay scattered / on the sanctuary floor, / fifty fleeting puffs of fluff — all dead…… do we need the ritual of burnt candles / and incense to make / slaughter worthy of grace? // There. On the terrazzo. Just below the / altar — so many died. As they lie / beneath the cross, / I cannot believe they are alone.” These are the words of my song too.

~ Diane Glancy, contest Judge, Author of, Quadrille, Christianity and the Early New England Indians.

Hey! You can now buy Annette a Cup of Coffee and and enjoy some of her prized and/or published poetry.

Poetry Books

Proper Poems for Proper Ladies with Award

Children's Books

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News & Announcements

Wonderful news!! I have been named Poet Laureate for the League of Minnesota Poets (2025 to 2027)

Circular Living and Look Away Published by (quarterly poetry digest) Illumen, Winter 2026 (January) issue.

How to Survive the Odor of Sunlight to be included as one of the shortlisted poems in the book — to be published March 2026.

The poetry book, Benevolence won the John C. Rezmerski Poetry book award from the League of Minnesota Poets Association. Annette receives a $1,000 cash prize. 20 free books and publication through the League Press, to be released in April 2026.

Emptying Milkweed Pods, published on Thursday April 16, 2026 in Dark Winter Lit.

A Sighting and A Sonnet Assignment won Honorable Mention in the Ohio Poetry Day Association, October 2025.

Light Can Be Alive won 1^st Place award in the ODP Special Award, Ohio Poetry Day Association, October 2025. Will be published in the Best of 2025, Ohio Poetry day Anthology.

Rabbits & Small Boys Won first award of Merit for Mike Finley Humor Award at the 2025 League of MN Poets, November 1, 2025.

Just Past the Falls Won 2nd Honorable Mention for Steinography Award at the 2025 League of MN Poets, November 1, 2025.

Sounds of the Cloth Published 2025 One Page Poetry anthology by The One Page Poetry team www.OnePagePoetry.com

Life Prints won the Lake Country Journal SWEET LIFE Poetry Contest! and will be read at the Sweet Life Poetry Reading November 8^th from 1p.m. to 3p.m. at the Central Lakes College Library, Brainerd, MN.

Before We Kissed Published in First Step, the first anthology for Wordwhipper Press, 2025

Lakota Won September 2025 Cat III Arizona Member Poetry Contest. Published in Sandcutters 2025. This was previously Published in Pasque Petals, spring 2020, South Dakota State Poetry Society.

A Sonnet Assignment published in The Best poets of 2024. Vol 4, Eber & Wein Publishing.

There was a time, published in the Hooded Journal, October 2025. I was part of a Zoom Meeting Panel for writers, showcasing this poem on Oct. 26^th, 2025.

Figurati published in Blood and Bourbon 2025.

Another Go Round Published in Sublimation , Issue #4, Island of Wak-Wak, Sweden

Stranded Published in Issue #65 (Summer 2025) of Tipton Poetry Journal.

Bitch-Loud Boots Published in The Big Book of Quantum Fiction, Tracy Shew, Editor. Summer 2025.

Summer Social Published in Gathering Poetry Anthology 2025, Local Gems Press.

Nothing Like a Poem Published in Bards Poetica anthology by Local Gems Press. August, 2025.

Fade to Nothing, Himself and Mandolin Player Published by Twenty-two, Twenty-eight/ posted on July 6^th, 2025 – at: https://www.twentytwotwentyeight.com/single-post/selected-poetry-by-annette-gagliardi

I Must Stop Published in the July 2025 Issue of Harrow House Journal at: harrowhousejournal.com (it is an E-book)

Murder For Tea Published in the Poets for Peace Anthology, 2025. The Sunflowers Rising Anthology committee selected my poem Murder for Tea for inclusion.

Ponderosa Pines: Days of the Deadwood Forest Fire has been awarded a 2023 PenCraft Seasonal Book Award for Christian – Historical Fiction.

The PenCraft Seasonal Book Awards, recognize excellence in creative writing. This Fall (2023) it honors 48 great books for adults and children. We are pleased to recognize these hard-working authors and their books and thank them for their inspiring stories and captivating writing styles. This eclectic collection of 48 great books has been selected as the best of the season’s offerings, whether it be adult or children’s fiction, non-fiction, or other categories. These winning books feature stories of courage, adventure, wonder and joy; boundless fantasy; thought-provoking literature; beautiful artistry; inspiring non-fiction titles – something for everyone.

The PenCraft Seasonal Awards were established to recognize exceptional work from authors, editors, illustrators and publishers around the world. We are proud to present 48 great books that have surpassed PenCraft’s selection criteria and earned them a Seasonal PenCraft Book Award.