Three students from Central Illinois have been awarded the Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards for this year. The recipients are second grader Sanaa Shipley Bey from Whittier Primary School, sixth grader Mackenzie Wakeland from Mt. Zion Intermediate School, and 10th grader Sean Conner from Ridgeview High School, according to Amy Kent, a spokeswoman for Illinois Humanities.
Read More
These students are among 26 winners selected from a record 1,063 submissions representing 186 schools statewide. The winners will celebrate at the Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards on Saturday, September 19, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts in Chicago.
The Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards is an annual competition open to Illinois poets from kindergarten through 12th grade, organized by Illinois Humanities in partnership with Brooks Permissions, the Poetry Foundation, and the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts. This year’s poems touch on themes such as family, identity, heritage, belonging, and personal experiences.
Gwendolyn Brooks, who served as Illinois State Poet Laureate, initiated the Youth Poetry Awards in 1969 and continued them for over 30 years until her passing in 2000. The awards were renamed in her honor when they were revived in 2017.
Sanaa Shipley Bey's poem, "Brighter Than the Sky," reflects on loneliness and the fleeting nature of attention. Mackenzie Wakeland’s entry, "Numbers in Place of Names," addresses the emotional impact of law and loss. Sean Conner's poem, "Never," is inspired by Elie Wiesel's work and recounts a poignant memory about compassion and friendship through a personal narrative.
For further details about the awards ceremony and this year's winners, visit the Illinois Humanities website.