River of Words: Poetry

Contest Winners | Resources

2009 Grand Prize Winners and Finalists

Poetry submissions are judged by River of Words co-founders Robert Hass, who served as US Poet Laureate from 1995-1997, and writer Pamela Michael. American Sign Language poetry submissions are judged by renowned ASL poet Ella Mae Lentz and Susan Rutherford, Executive Director of DEAF Media. Four Grand Prizes in poetry are awarded every year to United States contestants, in four different age categories. In addition, about 50 finalists are selected each year from the tens of thousands of entries we receive from the US and other countries.

View Winning Poetry by Year

2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999| 1998 | 1997 | 1996

Unseen Secrets
Quinn Whitlow, age 7
St. Louis Park, Minnesota
Homeschool
Teacher: Lisa Burger

Grand Prize Winner
Category I
Grades K-2

It's a Letter
Yalonda Lockett, age 9
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Fulton Elementary School
Teacher: Barbara Strasko

Grand Prize Winner
Category II
Grades 3-6

Atmosphere
Savannah Fehling, age 14
Sarasota, Florida
Booker Middle School
Teacher: Joanna Hapner-Fox

Grand Prize Winner
Category III
Grades 7-9

Sisyphean
Skyler Pham, age 17
Opelousas, Louisiana
Magnet Academy for the Cultural Arts
Teacher: Holly Schullo

Grand Prize Winner
Category IV
Grades 10-12

Shadow Across the Moon
Arianna LaChance, age 12
San Anselmo, California
Greenwood School (Mill Valley)
Teacher: Devika Brandt

Shasta Bioregion Prize
Honoring a San Francisco Bay Area Student

Anacostia Shakespearean
Grace Fitzpatrick, age 13
Washington, DC
St. Peter's Interparish School
Teacher: Sandra Pierce

Anacostia Watershed Prize
Honoring a Washington, D.C. Area Student

Reflection
Noah Jordan, age 9
Alna, Maine
Cetner for Teaching & Learning (Edgecomb)
Teacher: Jill Cotta

Monkey's Raincoat Prize
Honoring a Short Poem in the Tradition of the Japanese Haiku

Finalists

What Water Says, Aidan Abney

Teaches, Bill Adams

The Johnny Pump Days, Obianujunwa Anakwenze

Snowflake, Andrew Baxter

My World, Alexa Beaver

Ancient Language, Thornton Blease

A Precious Pearl, Mirabai Britton

Fourth Disappointment, Kyla Candido

Lawn, Lizzie Chadbourne

To Lasso Grammar, Jenae' Clay

Turtles, Caroline Devlin

Afternoon, Helena Eitel

Smokey Mountains, Amelia Fuller

The Dog, Paul Harrington

Island Life, Tess Hinchman

reflection, Jennifer Hu

Five Favorite Things (From a Five-Year-Old), Everett Hutter

Ode to the Tangerine/Oda a la Mandarina, Audrey Larkin

Here or There, David Lauve

Genesis, Megan Mabry

The Heart of the Hibiscus, Cyrus Maunakea

The Days of Glory, Madeline McGrigg

Koi Pond: Persona of My Music Teacher, Emilie Menzel

Kennebec Pantoum, Emma Moorhead

Rattlesnake, Cole Morales

Untitled, Bo Yan J. Moran

The Pond Behind My House, Ruben Moreno

Harvested, Amelia Neilson

Bullhead, Sidney Pang

The Island, Georgina Parfitt

Behind Our School, Samah Rash

Ars Poetica, Courtney Reed

Of Purple, Hope Rogers

Untitled, Alijah Rosario

Clear, Aurora Rummel-Lindig

You Got Lost Inside an Afternoon, Patricia Schlutt

In the Mountains, Patricia Schlutt

Leap of Faith, Elisa Steele

Evening, Night, Ariah Thornton

Just Because, Jullisa Trevino

You, Lake, Matt Turner

To a Cabin, Marley Walker

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