Carl Sandburg College has announced the winners of the 34th annual Carl Sandburg College Poetry Contest.
Winners were selected in four categories: elementary (grades 1-5), junior (grades 6-8), intermediate (grades 9-12) and adult.
This year’s contest featured 277 total entries, with 82 poems in the Elementary Division, 105 in the Junior Division, 58 in the Intermediate Division and 32 in the Adult Division. There were submissions from five elementary schools, six middle schools, nine high schools and two home-schooled students. The Adult Division included entries from four states and three Sandburg alumni.
The names of winners are also published at sandburg.edu/poetryawards.
34th ANNUAL CARL SANDBURG COLLEGE POETRY CONTEST AWARDS
Elementary Division
First place — “Jay…” by Lillian Edwards (Galesburg)
Second place — “Superstitions” by Wesley Anderson (Kirkwood)
Third place — “Red” by Tristin Williams (Oneida)
Honorable mention — “Looking Around” by Marcus McBride (Monmouth)
Honorable mention — “I Once Met a Guy” by James Rozny (Galesburg)
Junior Division
First place — “Friends” by Jaylie Garrison (LaHarpe)
Second place — “A World of Light” by Veronica Sanchez (Galesburg)
Third place — “I am” by Abreanna Stevens (Williamsfield)
Honorable mention — “Deadly Dancer” by Pola McClure (Galesburg)
Honorable mention — “Until I Met You” by Elizabeth J. Martin (Galesburg)
Intermediate Division
First place — “The Mind’s Murder” by Julia Evans (Knoxville)
Second place — “The Hill I Died On” by Tenley Houzenga (Dahinda)
Third place — “Awareness” by Mitchell Parrish (Knoxville)
Honorable mention — “Hypocrisy” by Samuel Kirk Watson (Galesburg)
Honorable mention — “The Soldier” by Rachel Leary (Little York)
Adult Division
First place — “but today…I do” by Gary M. Armstrong (Galesburg)
Second place — “Last Day” by Marie Smysor Watson (Galesburg)
Third place — “To Me This Is Home” by Sarah Amschler (LaHarpe)
Honorable mention — “A Petal of Inception” by Heather Bjoin (Golden Valley, Minn.)
Honorable mention — “The Lamppost In The Ocean” by Karisa Warren (Ladson, SC)
PHOTOS: Sandburg Poetry Contest Awards Reception
Winners of the 34th annual Carl Sandburg College Poetry Contest were invited to a reception where they could recite their poem.