Sarah Mook Poetry Contest

Sarah Mook Poetry Contest Results, 2021

Thank you for entering the Sarah Mook Poetry Contest. In this challenging year we had more than 1,000 entries from twenty states and ten countries! New York and Maine are well represented among the winners! Winning poems also came from California, Maryland, and Texas. While there were fewer whole-class entries from schools, there were more individual entries including many poems from students being home schooled in this unusual year. Congratulations to all the poets, and special thanks to all the teachers, parents, and mentors who support these young writers. We are so fortunate to have a final judge who takes the time to give careful consideration to every poem. A letter from Final Judge Marie Kane, copied below, includes her criteria for selecting the winning poems. Thank you, Marie!

Each winning poet will receive a cash award: First $100, Second $50, and Third $25.

K-2 First Place: "Skiing" by Joey Kim, New York, NY

K-2 Second Place: "Other Sweet Things" by Austen Smith, Brooklyn, NY

K-2 Third Place: "Springtime" by Avery Peck, Edgecomb, ME

3-5 First Place: "A Beautiful Place P1, P2" by Mikhail Laila, San Diego, CA

3-5 Second Place: "Ode to an Icicle" by Jackie Branch, Edgecomb, ME

3-5 Third Place: "Defiant" by Maya Mourshed, Silver Spring, MD

6-8 First Place: "Braiding P1, P2" by Isabelle Eaton-Neubert, Edgecomb. ME

6-8 Second Place: "Sunset" by Iago Macknik-Conde, New York, NY

6-8 Third Place Tie: "Grounded" by Aymeric Dauge-Roth, Edgecomb, ME

6-8 Third Place Tie: "The Road of Life" by Sophia Scott, Edgecomb, ME

9-12 First Place: "a woman in the sun" by Maddie Whitehead, Brooklyn, NY

9-12 Second Place: "Child of the Ashes" by Penelope (Penny) Duran, Houston, TX

9-12 Third Place: "Wanting a Lightning Bolt" by Lyla Forest Butler, Brooklyn, NY

 The Kindergarten Awards are sponsored and judged by Sarah's kindergarten teacher Mrs. Olwen Jarvis. Her comments on each winning poem will be included with the award letters. Mrs. Jarvis's kindness and generosity is reflected in the following thought: "I would love to give something to every child who attempts to be creative!" I whole heartedly agree with Mrs. Jarvis, and I implore all of us to make every effort to encourage and support young poets and writers. Each winning poets' school will receive cash awards to be used for the purchase of books for the school libraries. Congratulations to all!

First Place: "I Love Leaves" by Gannon Inman, Center for Teaching and Learning, Edgecomb,ME

Second Place: "Bye Bye Old Year, Hello New Year" by Zora Bell, Saint Ann's School, Brooklyn, NY

Third Place: "Sounds" Erin Rusten, Saint Ann's School, Brooklyn, NY

Honorable Mention: "Winter" Lila Milden, Center for Teaching and Learning, Edgecomb, ME

Thank you also for your donations! A contribution of $700 was made in Sarah’s name to Save the Children Fund, which provides services to struggling children throughout the world. Award letters will be mailed soon to the winning poets. Winning poems will be published on the website in a few weeks. Check the website later this summer. Thank you for honoring Sarah and her gift of poetry. Take care and have a fun summer!

Sincerely,

David Mook and Family

From Judge Marie Kane - MY OVERALL COMMENTS

For fourteen years, I’ve had the opportunity to be the final judge of the Sarah Mook Memorial Poetry contest begun by David Mook to honor his daughter, Sarah, a talented young poet who passed away suddenly in 1995 when in third grade. The introduction to Each Leaf, a book of Sarah Mook’s poetry, notes Reading Sarah’s poems over and over during the months following her death inspired her father, David, to begin writing poetry. For David, ‘poetry is a gift from Sarah, a blessing.’ All of the poems entered in this contest are gifts to Sarah’s memory.

As in previous years, the 2021 final ten poems in the four age groups demonstrate a lively style, astute knowledge of the craft of poetry, mature voice, and a willingness to vividly share inner and outside worlds with readers. The difficulty of choosing three winners in each age group challenges me every year, as it did this one.

The forty finalists’ topics ranged from a look into heritage, family life, and the Covid virus, to Isaac Newton’s mind, to the influence of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to topics honoring robins, stones, trees, the stars, and the sea. Poetic form varied also; besides free verse and rhyming verse, poets used sestina, ballad, myth, and ghazal to write their poems.

I take my judging seriously. To determine the top three winners of each age group, I read, reread, and read the poems aloud more than once to hear how adeptly poets use sound, and then do everything again until I am sure my choices are correct.

Like these poets, I began writing when I was young and so appreciated those readers (usually teachers) who took my poetry seriously and encouraged and believed in my voice. Congratulations to any teacher, parent, or anyone else who inspired these young poets in this difficult pandemic year.

What I look for in winning poetry in this contest:

~ I consider the age of the poet. How a senior high school student writes about nature, for instance, differs significantly from how an elementary student writes about it.

~ I look for resonant particulars in the poems—descriptive detail after descriptive detail.

~ Poets should strive to be original in his or her descriptions and avoid cliché and overused language.

~ I appreciate verbs that surprise the reader in their uniqueness.

~ Poets should use metaphor, simile, personification, and other poetic conventions in an innovative way.

~ If the poem rhymes, the rhyme cannot take precedence over the poem’s meaning. The rhyme should be fresh, not predictable.

~ If poets use a form (sonnet, villanelle, sestina, etc.,), the poem must adhere to its guidelines. Or, if the poet knowingly alters the form, the poem must not suffer from the alteration.

~ The poems offer insight into life, people, or the world.

~ The poet’s voice must match or exceed his or her age group.

The winning poems for 2021 are fascinating in their variety, craft, and honesty. They also show what Robert Frost so appropriately asserted: “Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat.”