The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, one of the premier programs of its kind in the country, invited high school students across the nation to submit poems to the 2017 Lake Effect National High School Poetry Competition.
Nearly 2,000 submissions were received. From them, B.F.A. in creative writing faculty selected three winners of cash prizes, five top finalists, and eleven finalists. All finalists received a copy of Lake Effect, an international journal of the literary arts edited by B.F.A. faculty and students.
2017 Lake Effect National High School Poetry Competition
Winners
First Place ($300)
Qingying (Susan) Li, Hamilton, N.J.
Junior, Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, Mass., Dr. Delano Copprue, teacher
Read Susan's winning poem,“November”
Second Place ($200)
Alan Tu, Pittsford, N.Y.
Junior, Pittsford Sutherland High School, Matthew Davidson, teacher
Read Alan's winning poem, “Self-Portrait in a Concave Mirror”
Third Place ($100)
Hannah G. Bentley, Mequon, Wisc.
Senior, Homestead High School, Angelina Cicero, teacher
Read Hannah's winning poem, “five reasons why I could never be an astronaut”
Top Finalists
Fourth Place
Alan Tu, Pittsford, N.Y.
Junior, Pittsford Sutherland High School, Matthew Davidson, teacher
“Yosemite”
Fifth Place
Hannah G. Bentley, Mequon, Wisc.
Senior, Homestead High School, Angelina Cicero, teacher
“How to Build a Fire with Your Own Two Hands”
Sixth Place
Kathleen Parkhurst, Midland Park, N.J.
Senior, Northern Highlands Regional High School, Svea Barrett, teacher
“Postcard from the Inside of My Mouth”
Seventh Place
Madison Watson, Collinsville, Okla.
Junior, Oologah High School, Rebekah Askew, teacher
“Lost Framework”
Eighth Place
Makiyah Adams, Philadelphia, Pa.
Junior, Central High School, Daniel Kannengieszer, teacher
“Canaries”
Additional Finalists in Alphabetical Order
Cody J. Belcich, New Franklin, Ohio
Senior, Coventry High School, Mark G. Jamison, teacher
“Don’t Talk to Strangers”
Maya Berardi, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Junior, Avonworth High School, Scott Tuffiash, teacher
“A Lunar Loneliness”
Haberle Conlon, Jamesville, N.Y.
Sophomore, Jamesville-DeWitt High School, Matthew Phillips, teacher
“Deep River”
Olivia Howe, Brattleboro, Vt.
Senior, High School: Brattleboro Union High School, Beneth Goldschmidt-Sauer, teacher
“Lake Superior”
Jenny Oh, Pittsford, N.Y.
Ninth grade, Pittsford Mendon High School, Jude Dietz, teacher
“Demise”
Kaavya Ramachandhran, Mason, Ohio
Junior, William Mason High School, Amanda Bross, teacher
“Listen”
Grace Tan, Fort Lee, N.J.
Junior, Bergen County Academies, Richard Weems, teacher
“mother//daughter”
Tina Tarashi, Fairfax, Va.
Senior, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Maria Gilbert, teacher
“Daydreaming of Angels”
Abby Tow, Keller, Texas
Junior, Keller High School, Kristofor Vogel, teacher
“question and answer segment of fifth grade puberty seminar”
Vriddhi Vinay, Easton, Pa.
Senior High School: Easton Area High School, Kristin Hudak, teacher
“In-cant”
Evelyn Zelmer, Newark, Ohio
Ninth grade, Newark High School, Lynn Mason, teacher
“Amaranthine”
The Lake Effect National High School Poetry Contest is made possible by the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Penn State Behrend and by Barnes & Noble University Bookstores.