The 2022 Young Poet Awards was organized by Camille S. Campbell in partnership with us. A teen author herself, Camille knows the importance of encouraging young writers through showcasing their work. The contest encouraged youth to write poems and empowered them to express themselves through the visual arts. After seeing the impact of her book, Her Poems: Women Poets Who Changed the World, Camille felt inspired to give back to her local community and throughout the country by hosting the Young Poet Awards contest.
We’re very grateful to all students (and also their teachers and parents) who entered their creative works. Our heartfelt congratulations to the winners of the contest this year: Carina Araujo (4th grade winner) and Nova Macknik-Conde (5th grade winner). The two Young Poets will receive a cash prize, Skipping Stones Magazine subscription and recent issues, signed copies of Camille’s book, and four books donated by Skipping Stones Magazine.
4th Grade Winner: Carina Araujo, Maryland.
My Love for my Mom
Art and poem by Carina Araujo, grade 4, Maryland.
My love for you is bigger than the sky
You and me in this beautiful warm night
Staring at the moonlight
Together, you and me
Looking at the big blue bright sky
There are infinite stars above us
Shining in the sky
Holding hands together we stand
Peace all around
In our land
Carina Araujo, grade 4, Maryland (above).
5th Grade Winner: Nova Macknik-Conde, New York.
Winter In My Bed
Glittering white powder covers my home like a frosted cake
The silent fall of snow lulls me to sleep
Icicles lining the roof
The chance of snowmen when I wake up
Cold harsh weather surrounds my home
But it cannot penetrate the warm soft blankets that cover me
Like a hatchling in her nest
Winter in my bed
A full moon glows lighting up my face
My family sleeping warm
Through the frosty night
Me, listening to the sounds of night and family
Slowly drifting to sleep
In my snuggly, lovely, cuddly bed
My pen lingers over the page,
Cobalt ink waiting in the depths,
I imagine, and I ponder, and I muse.
But still the thief steals my well of words,
Cheats me of my cascading thoughts,
And takes my waterfalls of compositions.
The vague scent of ink on a fresh sheet of paper,
The articulation of inspiration,
The quiet bliss of the flowing verse.
The thief deprives me of the joy of invention,
The dexterity of novels, poems, and short stories,
And the rushing streams of world building.
So idea-less
That the only method of elusion
Is to pen
The meaningless things that enter my mind,
Or write about my writer’s block alone.
By Nova Macknik-Conde, grade 5, New York.