2026 Sejong International Sijo Competition
Winners | Judges | Winning Entries
Winners
| Award | One Division |
|---|---|
| Winner | Kamila Arystanbekova Kazakhstan sijo | bio |
| Runners-up | Christina Sinor United States sijo | bio |
| Pit Pinegar United States sijo | bio | |
| Honorable Mention | Emily Rose Raboy United States sijo | bio |
| Chinaza Joy Ugota Nigeria sijo | bio | |
| Lynda La Rocca United States sijo | bio | |
| Linda Hendelman United States sijo | |
| McLord Selasi Ghana sijo | bio | |
| Carissa Coane United States sijo |
Finalists
48 finalists, listed alphabetically by last name.
| Name | Home-Country |
|---|---|
| Jade Adams | Nigeria |
| Kamila Arystanbekova | Kazakhstan |
| McLord Selasi | Ghana |
| Snehal Bhadani | Singapore |
| Ibtissam Boulesbaa | Algeria |
| Yeowon Choi | United States |
| Carissa Coane | United States |
| Jobelle Convocar | Philippines |
| Susmita Rani Das | Bangladesh |
| Leena Samuel | India |
| Rae Delane | Malaysia |
| Grace Deubig | United States |
| Ela Doğan | Turkey |
| Jacob Edwards | Australia |
| Oluwanifemi Genevieve | Nigeria |
| Leeanne Noela Guevarra | Philippines |
| Chloe He | United States |
| Linda Hendelman | United States |
| Caleb Humphreys | United States |
| Lena Jacques | France |
| Sevanshi Jindal | India |
| Bhavin Khilnani | India |
| Pratibha Kumari | India |
| Lynda La Rocca | United States |
| Alexander da Silva Lima | Brazil |
| Seif Eldien Maher | Egypt |
| Laiba Majeed | India |
| Nita Manning | United States |
| Urszula Marciniak | Poland |
| John Miller | United States |
| Rand Morsy | Egypt |
| Thaise Nascimento Cunha | Brazil |
| Abdulquadir Ibrahim Omotosho | Nigeria |
| Pit Pinegar | United States |
| Emily Rose Raboy | United States |
| Mileva Roumer | Canada |
| Rawad Shaker | United Arab Emirates |
| Vidushi Sharma | India |
| Sumit Shirswal | India |
| Christina Sinor | United States |
| Adelina Stoyanova | Bulgaria |
| Xenium Thebe | Nepal |
| Bethel Ugbebor | Nigeria |
| Chinaza Joy Ugota | Nigeria |
| Mike Kevin P. Uy | Philippines |
| Sawyer Vogds | United States |
| Brad Wesner | United States |
| Yejoon Yoo | United States |
About Winners
Kamila Arystanbekova (Kazakhstan)
First Place
I am Kamila Arystanbekova, and I never thought of myself as a poet.
I came across the Sejong International Sijo Competition and decided to give it a try, mostly out of curiosity. I wanted to see whether I could write a sijo at all, especially with its distinctive syllabic structure. Having read about this poetic form, I was curious to see whether I could express an idea in a few carefully structured lines and make it meaningful to someone else.
Winning the competition made me realise that sometimes, trying something simply out of curiosity can lead to something unexpected. I am grateful for this experience, which has encouraged me to keep exploring poetry and see where it might take me. I hope to write stories of my own someday, and this experience has given me the confidence to take that dream a little more seriously.
Christina Sinor (United States)
Runner-up
Throughout the world, people live in cages that aren't always visible. Whether shaped by circumstance, societal expectations, fear, or limitations beyond their control, confinement takes many forms.
My poem explores the idea that freedom isn't always something we possess physically, but something we can experience through self-expression. Even the smallest act of expression can offer a moment of liberation. Sometimes, the ability to make your voice heard is the closest thing to freedom you have.
Pit Pinegar (United States)
Runner-up
I discovered Sijo quite by accident. I read an article at a time when I was planning to write a short-form poem, as part of a small wedding celebration.
The form fascinated me from my reading of the few sijo that accompanied the description/definition.
That wedding sijo was my first. I absolutely LOVED what the form could accomplish in three, 14-16-syllable lines. I can’t say that not a day goes by without writing one, but I can say that not a week goes by without my writing several.
I’ve been experimenting, too, with writing sequences that collect thematically under a single title.
The Paradox of We was inspired by the current political climate in the U.S.
The exclusion of whole segments of our population by a “leadership” that spends most days “othering” much of our society…and, in fact, anyone who doesn’t agree with its toxic we.
Emily Rose Raboy (United States)
Honorable Mention
I first learned about the Sejong Cultural Society and sijo earlier this year when I wrote my first sijo “The Safe” in honor of my mom. Since my dad is another hero in my life, I wanted to write a sijo in his honor too.
My dad has always been musical, and before he got married, he was a working musician. But he quickly realized that living a life on the road would make it difficult to have a family, so he chose family over the musical industry.
He planned on returning to music in his retirement, after his children were grown, but unfortunately, his years of guitar picking contributed to arthritis which now prevents him from playing guitar altogether.
In music, a fermata is a prolonged pause. My dad intended to only pause his musical pursuits, but instead, life turned his fermata into a lasting stop. Though he insists he made the right decision in choosing family, I know he still misses playing his guitar.
I wish to express my gratitude to the judges and the Sejong Cultural Society for giving me the opportunity to share a piece of my parents’ story through this beautiful Korean poetic form.
Chinaza Joy Ugota (Nigeria)
Honorable Mention
I am Chinaza Joy Ugota from Ezza South local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. I am a medical student in the department of medicine and surgery at Ebonyi State University, as well as a young, growing poet and creative writer. I am a proud member of the Ebonyi State university Literary and Debating Club.
I discovered the beautiful Korean poetic form of Sijo through our Literary and Debating Club, and I was deeply motivated by my instructor, Dr. Nwefuru God'stime Chiadikaobi, to write my Sijo poem. This journey has taught me a great deal and opened my eyes to how a few carefully chosen words can carry deep meaning.
My poem draws inspiration from my birth and my mother's story,exploring the circumstances surrounding my arrival into the world.
I am passionate about using creative words to impact my society, to express feelings, emotions, and perspectives, and to explore deeper issues about life and humanity. I believe poetry is a powerful tool for influencing and inspiring young people, and I am committed to using my voice to encourage positive change.
As a medical student who loves literature,my first published poem was titled voices behind the white coats, I hope to continue bridging the worlds of science and art, healing people both through medicine and through the power of words.
Lynda La Rocca (United States)
Honorable Mention
I am thrilled to have received an honorable mention in the 2026 Sejong International Sijo Competition. This contest receives so many excellent sijos and to have my work chosen from among 917 entries is truly an honor.
I am quite new to writing sijo. I’d never even heard of the form until a couple of years ago, but I was immediately intrigued by it because I love writing in different poetic forms and trying to fit my thoughts and words into specific patterns and structures. I felt challenged by the sijo’s complexity and wanted to learn how to write them so I studied examples and participated, via Zoom, in the 2025 Sijo Summit. There I discovered that writing sijos was even harder than I’d thought. My first three were, frankly, pretty awful.
After writing a fourth sijo, I thought I was beginning to understand. But it wasn’t until sijo number five, written this past summer, that I finally felt the “ah-ha” moment of, “OK, this time I’ve got it.” I really had seen a baby bird on the sidewalk and panicked over not being able to save it (I’d tried in the past to save abandoned or injured baby birds, always unsuccessfully). Then I saw the young woman on the bicycle. It took several weeks of thinking about this incident before I realized that it had all the makings of a sijo in it—if I could just get it right. And I did! And I’m so grateful to that tiny bird and the woman who took it up and put it in her basket.
My career has pretty much revolved around words. I’ve worked as a journalist, a freelance writer who has published hundreds of nonfiction articles, a copy and content editor, and a teaching assistant. And I’ve written poetry since second grade and have published six poetry collections; the most recent, titled What I Know (Right Now), came out in March 2026. My husband and I are avid birders so it’s even more meaningful that my winning sijo came about thanks to a bird.
McLord Selasi (Ghana)
Honorable Mention
McLord Selasi is a Ghanaian writer, poet, public health researcher, and performing artist. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in literary journals including Prairie Schooner, Panorama, Apricot Press, The Shallow Tales Review, Shoegaze Literary, Trampoline and Isele Magazine, among others.
I first learned about the Sejong International Sijo Competition through an Instagram post. As a poetry lover, I was curious to explore other poetic forms, so I went online to learn about Korean poetry and its traditions. Through that exploration, I discovered sijo. I was unfamiliar with the form and enjoyed discovering its distinctive structure and the possibilities it offered for expressing a story in just a few lines.
My sijo grew from an interest in the small habits and private rituals that develop between people who have shared a life together. I liked the idea of using something as ordinary as toothpaste to capture the persistence of difference within a long relationship, with the missing cap revealing a little mischief beneath a familiar domestic quarrel.
Writing the poem reminded me of how much a few carefully chosen details can suggest beyond what is explicitly stated. I am grateful to the Sejong Cultural Society and the judges for this recognition.