Miles Coon, director of the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, and Blaise Allen, the festival’s director of community outreach, recently announced the winners of the annual Palm Beach County High School Poetry Contest.
This year’s prize poets are two seniors and a sophomore from the Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, a junior at the Riviera Beach Maritime Academy and a senior from Wellington High School.
The first-place prize, winning two passes to the festival and $100, was awarded to Abigail Miller, a Dreyfoos senior, for her poem, “Crescent Moons.”
The next four winners, who will each receive two festival passes and $25, are: Kenneth Haliburton, a junior at the Riviera Beach Maritime Academy, for his poem, “Handbrake Turn;” Juliana Diatezua, a senior at Wellington High School, for her poem, “Ways to Disappear;” Tessa Bravata, a Dreyfoos senior, for her poem, “Rebel Gum;” and Tiffany Abreu, a Dreyfoos sophomore, for her poem, “Wisps.”
Open to Palm Beach County public and private high school students, a pre-selection committee of Lorraine Stanchich-Brown and Adele Alexandre reviewed 366 entries, narrowing the list to 25 finalists, and the winner was chosen by Dr. Jeff Morgan of Lynn University.
In addition to the festival passes and cash prizes, the winning students will have their poems published on the festival’s web site (www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org). The five winners will make an appearance on Monday, Jan. 20 at 4 p.m. at the Delray Beach Center for the Arts.
Finally, the Palm Beach Poetry Festival Annual High School Performance Poetry Project will host a special appearance Friday, Jan. 24 by award-winning poets Taylor Mali and Glenis Redmond, at both Spanish River and Wellington high schools.
The 10th annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival will be held Jan. 20-25 at the Delray Beach Center for the Arts. The festival will once again feature more than a dozen top poets at numerous ticketed public events. Tickets are now on sale to the public through the festival web site and at the Crest Theatre Box Office at the Delray Beach Center for the Arts, located at 51 N. Swinton Avenue, or by calling (561) 243-7922, ext. 1.
The Palm Beach Poetry Festival is sponsored by Morgan Stanley, the Windler Group of Morgan Stanley’s Atlanta Office; the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, the Palm Beach County Tourism Development Council and the Board of County Commissioners of Palm Beach County; The Palm Beach Post; WLRN 91.3FM; and Murder on the Beach, Delray Beach’s independent bookseller.
