2023 High School Poetry Contest

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.

About the Poetry Contest

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.

A note from MPC High School Anthology Editor, Erin Rodini

The Marin Poetry Center is thrilled to announce the winners and honorable mentions of the 2023 High School Anthology Contest! To follow the past few years, we opened our contest to Bay Area counties beyond Marin. Semifinalists were selected by a panel of experienced poets and our final judge, Joan Baranow, reviewed them anonymously.

The 2023 Marin Poetry Center High School Anthology joins a decades-long line of previous anthologies, each one offering a yearly glimpse into the minds and hearts, and imaginations of teen poets in Marin County and beyond. In my three years as editor, I have been moved, shaken, inspired, and deeply impressed by the talent, creativity, and wisdom of the young poets who trust me with their words. By extension, I am also in awe of the teachers and parents who nurture and support these poets so that they are able to express themselves with such skill, confidence, and honesty.

2023 WINNERS

1 ^st Place: equipoise – Sophia DeMoe, Marin School of the Arts
2 ^nd Place: butterflies – Clark Schutz, Marin School of the Arts
3 ^rd  Place:  Do Not Pass Go –  Naomi Ko, Saint Ignatius College Preparatory

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Your Girl – Katherine Boyle, Marin School of the Arts
ringmaster's apprentice –  Lauren Dias, Marin School of the Arts
Hiemal  – Roxanne Grechman, Redwood High School
Beauty – Ruby Kosek, Tamalpais High School
Thanks for the EIGHT BUCKS, Grandpa – Anita Luo, Lowell High School 988 – Jordan Silver, Drew High School

44 additional poems have been selected for inclusion in the anthology, which launched at our Awards Ceremony and Reading on May 23, 2023.

Order a 2023 copy here:

Order a 2022 copy here:

Order a 2021 copy here: