Poetry Month Celebration, Thursday, April 29 - Student winners

The Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Arts Council
Announces the
The Third Annual Poetry Month Celebration
Thursday, April 29 – 7:00 pm

Third Place Commons in Lake Forest Park

Free Community Event

Winners in the Student Division:

(Juror Janée J. Baugher’s comments included)

First Place: Beatrice Garrard - The Practice Room
Edmonds Woodway High School
“I was especially impressed with the intriguing, contemplative narrative, as well as the vivid, imaginative details.”


Second: Place: Hallie Dunham - So Late, Too Soon
The Evergreen School
“Enviable use of compression, rhythm, and typographical arrangement.”


Third Place: Kathryn Hedges - Galaxy
Shorecrest High School
“A whimsical poem with lovely imaginative leaps. The poem’s conceit resolved in a most surprising way.”


Honorable Mentions:

First: Kamile Jordan - So Be It
The Evergreen School
“Excellent union between literal and figurative language. Super use of repetition.”


Second Place: Kamile Jordan - Something Un-kept
The Evergreen School
“A sophisticated metaphorical poem that evoked yearning and mystery.”



About the Juror:

Originally from Renton, Washington, Janée J. Baugher has performed at Bumbershoot, Get Lit!, Arts Edge Arts Festival, and is a former Jack Straw Writer. Currently, Baugher just completed her second term as a Humanities Washington Inquiring Minds Speaker. Since receiving an MFA degree from Eastern Washington University, Baugher has taught at Highline Community College, UW-Experimental College, and Richard Hugo House. A former poetry editor of Willow Springs and Switched-on Gutenberg, Baugher regularly collaborates with visual artists, composers, and choreographers. Her recent collaborations were produced at University of Cincinnati–Conservatory of Music, Interlochen Center for the Arts (Interlochen, MI), and Dance Now! Ensemble (Miami Beach, FL). Her début collection of poems is Coördinates of Yes (Ahadada Books, 2010.)


More on the featured poets:

Jared Leising:

Poet Jared Leising has been selected by Jack Straw Productions as the curator of their 2010 Writers Program. Jared is the author of the chapbook The Widows and Orphans of Winesburg, Ohio. His poems have appeared in various Washington publications such as Pontoon, Crab Creek Review, and Stringtown, as well as on Metro Buses and local radio. Jared was selected by Nancy Rawles as a Jack Straw Writer in 2001, has worked as a writer-in-residence for Ballard and Nathan Hale High Schools, been a nominee for Seattle Poet Populist, and before moving to Seattle, he received his M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Houston. Currently, he teaches English at Cascadia Community College, serves as president of the Washington Community College Humanities Association, and is on the board of directors at 826 Seattle.


Kelli Russell Agodon:

Kelli Russell Agodon is the winner of the 2009 White Pine Press Poetry Prize judged by Carl Dennis. Her manuscript, Letters from the Emily Dickinson Room, will be published by White Pine Press in the fall of 2010. Kelli was born and raised in Seattle, is a graduate of Shorecrest High School, and attended the University of Washington and Pacific Lutheran University's Rainier Writing Workshop, where she received her MFA in creative writing. She is also the author of Small Knots (2004) and Geography, winner of the 2003 Floating Bridge Press Chapbook Award. Currently, Kelli lives in the Northwest with her family. She is the co-editor of the literary journal, Crab Creek Review.

The M.C.:

Aarene Storms is a librarian, a storyteller, and a huge fan of poetry. She serves as a judge for the King County Library System Teen Poetry Contest, and originated and maintains the annual "Serendipity Poetry Project", which places printed poetry in unexpected locations inside local public libraries, including the libraries in Lake Forest Park and Richmond Beach. She also shares stories, music and poetry as a storytelling-host of KSER Radio's Sunday morning program Global Griot.