PB POETRY FESTIVAL Applauds Winners of High School Poetry Contest
By: BWW News Desk Jan. 18, 2017
The $200 first place prize went to Juliana Romero, a 17-year-old junior at Wellington High School, for her poem, A Moment.
The next four $100 winners are in order of their finish:
- Haleigh McGirt, a 17-year-old senior from Jupiter High School, for her poem, To the Boy in my Fourth Period Debate Class Who, Unprompted, Took it Upon Himself to Proclaim 'Rape Culture Doesn't Exist'.
- Aleah Searfoss, a 16-year-old junior at Wellington High School for her poem, The Great Egret.
- Owen Gable, a 17-year-old junior from Spanish River High School in Boca Raton for his poem Songbird.
- Samantha Marshall, a 17-year-old senior from the Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach for her poem, Elegy for Evangeline.
"This year the Palm Beach Poetry Festival High School Poetry Contest had a banner year," says Dr. Allen. "Our judges, Lynn University's Dr. Jeff Morgan and Professor Lorraine Stanchich-Brown from Nova University, had to narrow down to give talented finalists from a highly competitive pool of 448 submissions - 100 more than we received last year."
"The Poetry Festival has been honored to work with high school teachers throughout Palm Beach County for the past 13 years. We have visited hundreds of classrooms to discuss the craft of poetry and encourage students to write original poems, and every year we are amazed by the quality of their submitted work. In fact, many of our past winners have gone to college to become teachers themselves, and we are always hopeful that the Festival is nurturing a future Poet Laureate of the United States," she adds.
The five winning high school poets read their poems at the Festival's Award Ceremony on Monday, January 16, where they had the opportunity to meet and have their pictures taken with nine of America's most distinguished and award-winning poets, as well as have their winning poems published online on the Festival's official website at www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org.
In addition to their cash prize, all five winners received a complimentary subscription to Poets & Writers magazine and a pair of tickets to the Poetry Festival's Sizzling Spoken Word event at Old School Square's Fieldhouse on Saturday, January 21, at 9 pm, featuring The Mayhem Poets, Mason Granger and Scott Raven.
About the Palm Beach Poetry Festival 2017:
The 13th annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival will be held January 16-21 at Old School Square in Delray Beach. The Festival features top poets at numerous ticketed public events, including readings, talks, interviews, panel discussions and more. Nine workshops will be offered for which applications are required.
Special Guest Poet in 2017 will be Charles Simic, past United States Poet Laureate (2007-2008) and 1990 Pulitzer Prize winner. Nine distinguished poets will lead poetry writing workshops at the Festival: David Baker, Tina Chang, Lynn Emanuel, Daisy Fried, Terrance Hayes, Dorianne Laux, Thomas Lux, Carl Phillips and Martha Rhodes, and individual conferences will be offered by nationally acclaimed poets: Sally Bliumis-Dunn, Nickole Brown and Ginger Murchison. Performances at the Field House will offer sizzling spoken word by The Mayhem Poets: Mason Granger and Scott Raven.
The 2017 Palm Beach Poetry Festival is sponsored in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture; Morgan Stanley & The Legacy Group of Atlanta; the Cultural Council of Palm County, the Palm Beach County Tourism Development Council and the Board of Commissioners of Palm Beach County; The Palm Beach Post; Visit Florida; WLRN; and Murder on the Beach, Delray Beach's independent bookseller.
For more information about the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, please visit www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org.
Photo credit: Michiko Kurisu
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