BEVERLY — The Beverly Public Library has announced the winners of the 28th annual Teen Poetry Contest.
Winners in the Middle School Division were Sydney Brown, first place for “What Shall I Say”; Katie Daniels, second place for “A CD considers its music”; and James Daoust, third place for “some random poem I made part 2.”
In the High School Division, the winners were Johnny Sheridan, first place for “Elegy for the Impermanent”; Michael Towne-Smith, second place for “Pupa”; and Sheridan, third place for “Sweet Dreams.”
The library received over 450 poems for the contest. The poems were judged by a panel of local poets — Kevin Carey, coordinator of creative writing at Salem State University; Liz Ciampa, founder of the Winter Street Writers group; and Aly Pierce, author of “The Visible Plants and Cryptids.”
The following students all won honorable mentions:
Emma Conway for “Forgettable”; Charlie Cook for “Through my Telescope”; Liana for “A Woman”; Rory Horan for “The phantom cat”; Lequontavious Jarmanious Jaquan Lamar Quandale Lapaix III for “The boy from Rosario”; Bianca Loiacano for “Series of haikus”; Cornelia Sollins for “I Hate It Just As Much As You”; Cornelia Sollins for “Ode to Pointe”; Miya Tsuji for “An Ode to Soccer Fields”; Destiny Albanese for “My Mother, My Father”; Skyler Bickmore for “The M&M Not Taken”; Arianna B. for “Ballad of Nicole Duennebier’s ‘Still Life With Meat Pile'”; Amy Cai for “MATH”; Sabela de Haro Borras for “Dichotomy”; Scarlett for “A Photo Of Us”; Claire Fitzgerald for “learning”; Riley E. Michael for “The Bathroom Girls”; JJ Niemann for “The Dreamer”; Colin Vellante for “Wood Doves.”
The poetry contest is supported by the Friends of the Beverly Public Library; Joan Nelson; and all of the parents, teachers and school librarians who encouraged their students to enter. Further questions about the Annual Teen Poetry Contest or any of the library’s Teen events can be directed to Katie Nelson, the head of Teen Services, at knelson@noblenet.org.