Garima Rana was declared the winner of Bhavisyavani—an international poetry competition—at the Finale held at the Shilpee Theatre, Battisputali, on Saturday. The competition that went on for more than two months was organised by DREAMS magazine in collaboration with World Warriors and Nepal Literature Festival.

Rana was declared the winner by a panel of judges that included renowned poets Biplov Pratik, Netra Atom, Seema Abhas and Sneh Sayami. Rana’s poem, Joog Pherine Tyo Din, was about the customary struggle of an ordinary Nepali who expects times to take a turn one day.

Laxman Shrestha won the second prize for his poem Ma Sirish ko Phool, while Ramnath Khanal won the third place for his poem Bhavisyavani. The top three winners received cash prizes of Rs 50,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs 10,000, respectively. The competition, which started on July 15, had seen a participation of more than 200 young poets.

Poets who made their way into the final 20 were: Neal Bikram Shahi, Sabin Prabhat Gyawali, Aman Basnet, Laxman Shrestha, Nitya Pandey, Fuchchi Jamuna, Asmita Karki, Nabin Bhusal, Prajwal Adhikari, Manoj Bhandari, Raghu Pariyar, Nishma Adhikari, Sagar Bhandari, Ayushma Adhikari, Narayani Khadka, Manish Baral, Manoj Thapa and AnuThapaliya. Also reciting poetry during the event were the judges along with chief guest Bimal Niva. The poems, penned by the top 20 finalists, will be published in the book Bhavisyavani, which will be published by early 2016.