First Place: Oral History Poem: beyond what I could've done, by Ni N.F.
We are excited to launch this year's High School Poetry Contest. At least 50 poems will be selected for the 2023 High School Poetry Anthology. Click here for submission guidelines, information about this year's judge, and prizes.
The Marin Poetry Center sponsors teen-related projects that celebrate the arts and through our High School Poetry Contest.
MPC’s contest provides students professional review, selection, and publishing via our High School Poetry Anthology. Also, students selected for the anthology are invited to read their work at our Gala Award Ceremony in the spring of each year and receive a free anthology copy. For many students, inclusion in our anthology is their first experience writing and/or publishing a poem. In the process, students tap into a special part of themselves and learn the power of their unique voice. Thank you for supporting the MPC High School Poetry Contest.
The Marin Poetry Center is thrilled to announce the winners and honorable mentions of the 2022 High School Anthology Contest! To follow last year, we opened our contest to Bay Area counties beyond Marin. Semifinalists were selected by a panel of experienced poets and our final judge, Judy Halebsky, reviewed them anonymously.
Every voice in this anthology is here because someone took the time to listen, to nurture, to teach. Thanks to the teachers who have created and maintained a space for poetry in their curricula, I can say with absolute certainty and joy that the art of poetry is vibrantly alive in Bay Area high schools!
1 st Place: Oral History Poem – Ni N.F., Lowell High School
2 nd Place: I'll Pray to Myself (God Poem) – K. Bhatt, The Marin School
3 rd Place: red #1 – Natalja Vazquez Adams, Tamalpais High School
paper dreams – Vienne Voong, Lowell High School
vulnerable – Manisha Murthy, Marin School of the Arts
counter balance – Anonymous, Marin School of the Arts
I've been peeling oranges as a form of prayer – Claire Cameron, Tamalpais High School
College Bound – Sonja Fish, Marin School of the Arts
44 additional poems have been selected for inclusion in the anthology, which launched at our Awards Ceremony and Reading on May 19, 2022.
Order a 2022 copy here:
Order a 2021 copy here:
First Place: Oral History Poem: beyond what I could've done, by Ni N.F.
Second Place: I'll Pray to Myself (God Poem), by K. Bhatt
Third Place: red #1, by Natalja Vazquez Adams
Honorable Mention: paper dreams, by Vienne Voong
Honorable Mention: College Bound, by Sonja Fish
Honorable Mention: counter balance, by Anonymous
Honorable Mention: I've been peeling oranges as a form of prayer, by Claire Cameron
Honorable Mention: vulnerable, by Manisha Murthy
Honorable Mention: Quilt, by Bodhi Dunkel Wilker
Honorable Mention: Sunday, by Violet Monchick
Honorable Mention: 13 Reasons Why I'm Not a Bubbly Perfect Girl, by Hayley Ballard
Honorable Mention: Ode to a Box Filled with Smaller Boxes, by Adi Jolish
Honorable Mention: For My Daughter, by Shaleez Razavi
Honorable Mention: Where I'm From, by Dorian Grillet
Third Place: Yesterday's Red Plaid Flannel, by Talia Harrison
Second Place: Communicating with my Body, by Artemis Frederick
First Place: Numbers, by Odessa Goldberg
First Place: Les Garçons Amoreaux, by Cole Marrinson
Second Place: November: New York, by Evelyn Bohn
Third Place: 32 Reasons Why I Love My Mom, by Sydney West
Honorable Mention: Something Whispered, by Saoirse Staples
Honorable Mention: One, by Alexis Lanigan
Honorable Mention: All Connected, by Dylan Marin
Honorable Mention: Bittersweet Symphony, by Abigail Merciniak
Honorable Mention: How Capitalism Destroyed the Moon, by Jewel Guerra
First Place: We The Same Color, by Rudy (Rudolfo) Perez-Diaz
Second Place: Making Birch Paper with my Father, by Iona Normandi
Third Place: I Love to Write Poetry, by Iona Normandi
First Place: Memoir, by Benjamin Wall-Feng
Second Place: Native Tongues, by Ashley Sanchez
Third Place: Dementia, by Lily Kun