Marin Poetry Center

Poetry In The High Schools

2024 High School Poetry Contest

We are excited to launch this year's High School Poetry Contest. 52 poems were selected for the 2024 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 through our High School Poetry Contest, which provides students with 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, Maxine Flasher-Düzgüneş

The Marin Poetry Center is thrilled to announce the winners and honorable mentions of the 2024 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, Marin Poet Laureate Francesca Bell, selected the finalists. Book design by Lisa Rappoport & cover art by Mira Klein.

The poems selected for this anthology all serve as poignant reminders of why we are alive, each one a container for the poet’s unique creative universe. I sincerely hope that every poet within these pages continues to shape their lives and experiences through language, wherever it may take them. At this moment, we are witnessing the world tearing at the seams, and while poetry cannot change all of it, it certainly can change hearts and minds and bring otherwise disparate communities together in solidarity, inside one universe. With this, I will say that as past, present, and future poets, our liberation is inseparably connected with the liberation of all peoples anywhere. No one can be free in this world until everybody is free, and poetry and the power of expression exist as prominent factors in making this possible.

2024 WINNERS

st Place: Slim’s Nocturne – Elina Kumra, Summit Tahoma
nd Place: first breakfast after coming out – Sophia deMoe, Marin School of the Arts
rd  Place:  Breaking the Old, Bad Habits –  V Cunningham, The Urban School

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The Cry of Broken Cycles – Story Hadfield, Marin School of the Arts
A Careless Wind Blows Through Me –  Ava Isabelle, Tamalpais High School
Arachnid  – Ethan Ramm, Marin School of the Arts
palmful – Anaya Ertz, Marin School of the Arts
Mourning You Already – Emma Lawson, San Rafael High School

44 additional poems have been selected for inclusion in the anthology, which launched at our Awards Ceremony and Reading on May 21, 2024.

The best way to order anthologies is online. Please note that $3.50 will be automatically added to your order to cover shipping and handling costs for the first book and an additional $1.50 for each additional book.

Order, 2024 $18:

Order, 2023 $18:

Past High School Anthology Winners

2024 High School Anthology Winners

Slim's Nocturne

First Place: Slim's Nocturne, by Elina Kumra

first breakfast after coming out

Second Place: first breakfast after coming out, by Sophia DeMoe

Breaking the Old, Bad Habits

Third Place: Breaking the Old, Bad Habits, by V Cunningham

The Cry of Broken Cycles

Honorable Mention: The Cry of Broken Cycles, by Story Hadfield

A Careless Wind Blows Through Me

Honorable Mention: A Careless Wind Blows Through Me, by Ava Isabelle

Arachnid

Honorable Mention: Arachnid, by Ethan Ramm

palmful

Honorable Mention: palmful, by Anaya Ertz

Mourning You Already

Honorable Mention: Mourning You Already, by Emma Lawson

2023 High School Anthology Winners

equipoise

First Place: equipoise, by Sophia DeMoe

butterflies

Second Place: butterflies, by Clark Shutz

Do Not Pass Go

Third Place: Do Not Pass Go, by Naomi Ko

Your Girl

Honorable Mention: Your Girl, by Katherine Boyle

ringmaster's apprentice 

Honorable Mention: ringmaster's apprentice, by Lauren Dias

Hiemal

Honorable Mention: Hiemal, by Roxanne Grechman

Beauty

Honorable Mention: Beauty, by Ruby Kosek

Thanks for the EIGHT BUCKS, Grandpa 

Honorable Mention: Thanks for the EIGHT BUCKS, Grandpa by Anita Luo

988

Honorable Mention: 988, by Jordan Silver

2022 High School Anthology Winners

Oral History Poem: beyond what I could've done

First Place: Oral History Poem: beyond what I could've done, by Ni N.F.

I'll Pray to Myself (God Poem)

Second Place: I'll Pray to Myself (God Poem), by K. Bhatt

red #1

Third Place: red #1, by Natalja Vazquez Adams

paper dreams

Honorable Mention: paper dreams, by Vienne Voong

College Bound

Honorable Mention: College Bound, by Sonja Fish

counter balance

Honorable Mention: counter balance, by Anonymous

I've been peeling oranges as a form of prayer

Honorable Mention: I've been peeling oranges as a form of prayer, by Claire Cameron

vulnerable

Honorable Mention: vulnerable, by Manisha Murthy

2021 High School Anthology Winners

Quilt

Honorable Mention: Quilt, by Bodhi Dunkel Wilker

Sunday

Honorable Mention: Sunday, by Violet Monchick

13 Reasons Why I'm Not a Bubbly Perfect Girl

Honorable Mention: 13 Reasons Why I'm Not a Bubbly Perfect Girl, by Hayley Ballard

Ode to a Box Filled with Smaller Boxes

Honorable Mention: Ode to a Box Filled with Smaller Boxes, by Adi Jolish

For My Daughter

Honorable Mention: For My Daughter, by Shaleez Razavi

Where I'm From

Honorable Mention: Where I'm From, by Dorian Grillet

Yesterday's Red Plaid Flannel

Third Place: Yesterday's Red Plaid Flannel, by Talia Harrison

Communicating with my Body

Second Place: Communicating with my Body, by Artemis Frederick

Numbers

First Place: Numbers, by Odessa Goldberg

2020 High School Anthology Winners

Les Garçons Amoreaux

First Place: Les Garçons Amoreaux, by Cole Marrinson

November: New York

Second Place: November: New York, by Evelyn Bohn

32 Reasons Why I Love My Mom

Third Place: 32 Reasons Why I Love My Mom, by Sydney West

Something Whispered

Honorable Mention: Something Whispered, by Saoirse Staples

One

Honorable Mention: One, by Alexis Lanigan

All Connected

Honorable Mention: All Connected, by Dylan Marin

Bittersweet Symphony

Honorable Mention: Bittersweet Symphony, by Abigail Merciniak

How Capitalism Destroyed the Moon

Honorable Mention: How Capitalism Destroyed the Moon, by Jewel Guerra

2019 High School Anthology Winners

Vredenburgh

First Place: Vredenburgh, by Elsa Schutt

Will You?

Second Place: Will You?, by Amo O'Neil

His

Third Place: His, by Celeste Moore

2018 High School Anthology Winners

We The Same Color

First Place: We The Same Color, by Rudy (Rudolfo) Perez-Diaz

Making Birch Paper with my Father

Second Place: Making Birch Paper with my Father, by Iona Normandi

I Love to Write Poetry

Third Place: I Love to Write Poetry, by Iona Normandi

2017 High School Anthology Winners

Memoir

First Place: Memoir, by Benjamin Wall-Feng

Native Tongues

Second Place: Native Tongues, by Ashley Sanchez

Dementia

Third Place: Dementia, by Lily Kun

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