Teen Poetry Contest Winners
2003
In December 2003, Skokie Public Library was pleased to announce the winners of the 2003 Teen Poetry Contest. Librarians who judged the contest were very impressed with the quality of entries submitted by Skokie area teens ages twelve through eighteen. Winners of the contest are listed below. All winners receive prizes and their poems are on display in Skokie Public Library during April, National Poetry Month.
Junior High School
First Place
Turn off the TV!, Rehan Azhar, East Prairie School, grade 8
Second Place
Anna, Anna Gorman, Old Orchard Junior High, grade 8
Third Place
Darkness of Our Hearts, Aaron Zolotor, East Prairie School, grade 8
Honorable Mentions
Memories, Carrie Goldberg, Fairview South School, grade 7
Missing Homework, Kim Stephens, East Prairie School, grade 8
High School and above
First Place
Me Now, Alicia Nieto, Niles North High School, grade 12
Second Place
Untitled, Jennifer Lynn Hedstrom, Niles West High School, grade 11
Third Place
When I Loved a Star, Kathryn Peyer, Homeschooled, grade 10
Honorable Mentions
Snowflakes, Israel Moskovits, Northeastern Illinois University, freshman
The Day, Kathleen Lee, Niles North High School, grade 10
You may also want to take a look at the list of winning poems from the 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 Teen Poetry Contests!
Each year, three top poems are submitted by Skokie Public Library to VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) magazine's national poetry contest. VOYA winners each receive a small cash prize and their poem is published in the April issue of VOYA magazine. To date there have been three VOYA winners from Skokie: Maggie Fair, 2002; Avi Cohen-McClelland, 2002; and Tamar Rubin, 2000.
To promote the reading and appreciation of poetry, Skokie Public Library participated in The Favorite Poem Project launched by former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky.
You can find more poetry written by teens on the Teen Ink website.