2024 Student Poetry Contest
Theme: “Song of the Open Road”
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
Walt Whitman’s poem, “Song of the Open Road,” is an enthusiastic ode to wanderlust. Whitman celebrates the carefree pleasures of traveling, inviting others to break free to join him. Use your poetic voice to take us on an adventure – your adventure!
Prompt:
‘Song of the Open Road,’ first published in the second edition of Leaves of Grass in 1856, celebrates the road as a space where people can come together in a meaningful way, where status and social strata matter less. A road is something everyone uses, whether they are rich or poor, and it forces all levels of people to associate with one another. The road signifies mobility: one can take the road to somewhere new, and in America that means somewhere one can start over.
For Whitman, the road is a space for gathering material for his poetry. As he travels along it, he sees a multitude of people and places and hears countless stories. He advocates against staying in one place for too long, although tempting, only the experiences of the open road will do.
In 30 lines or less, use your poetic voice and Whitman’s literary device of free verse to show us your road. Where will you go? Whom will you see? What will you learn during your adventure? Use your five senses to describe your environment. Why did you choose this road? Describe the obstacles you may encounter and the helpers you meet along the way.
Submission Deadline:
Monday, February 26, 2024
Guidelines:
See below.
Awards Ceremony:
Sunday, May 5, 2024, 12:00 noon – 2:00PM at the Birthplace
Poem:
Song of the Open Road, 1
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road.
The earth, that is sufficient,
I do not want the constellations any nearer,
I know they are very well where they are,
I know they suffice for those who belong to them.
(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens,
I carry them, men and women, I carry them with me wherever I go,
I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them,
I am fill’d with them, and I will fill them in return.
GRAND CHAMPIONS
Category A
Emily Gravitz, Lakeville Elementary School – Emily’s Poem
Category B
Alexeen Dillon, The Laurel Hill School – I Was Born with Autumn’s Leaves
Category C
Rebecca Henneman, Saint Ann’s School, Brooklyn – Untitled
Category D
Rina Olsen, St. John’s School, Guam – house of cards
Category D
Ava Kuklis, Westhampton Beach High School – I am
Category E
Rainer Pasca, Bay Shore High School – sixth period
Category E
Hannah Ninan, New Hyde Park Memorial High School – Traveling Pots
Category F (Individual Anthology)
Christina Pan, POB JFK High School – Whispers Across The Fields
Category G (Class Anthology Grades 3-4)
Deborah Zucaro, Fort Salonga Elementary School, Grade 3 – Glitter Upon Mountains
Category I (Class Anthology Grades 7-8)
Nicole Pomaro, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 8, Period 2 – About Us
Category J (Class Anthology Grades 9-10)
Shannon Murphy, Oyster Bay High School, Grade 9, Period 3 – Multitudes of Us
Category K (Class Anthology Grades 9-10)
Diedre Faughey, Oyster Bay High School, Grade 11, Period 2 – Letters Unsent
Category L (Multi-Media, Visual Poetry)
Malia Lockhart, Mount Sinai Middle School – My Hair
Category L (Multi-Media, Video Poetry)
Paige Sweeney, Oyster Bay High School – There is Time – https://youtu.be/KLNG8dpYmuI
CATEGORY A (Individual Poem Grades 3-4)
Julian Carazo, Mills Pond Elementary School – The Poem of Me
John Connors, Mount Sinai Elementary School – Tumbled
Valerie Kong, AP Willits Elementary School – All About Me
Nolan Maliszewski, Mills Pond Elementary School – Song of Myself
Michael Marchello, Judy Jacobs-Parkway Elementary School – All About Me
Amisha Pahar, Burns Avenue School – I’m Me
Radhiki Prajapati, Burns Avenue School – This is Me, Beautiful Me
Maggie Rubin, North Side School – A Song of My Contradictions
Aria Russell, Southampton Elementary School – Life is Our Journey
Ava Sprague, Mount Sinai Elementary School – Me!
Calissa Wong, E.M. Baker Elementary School – Habits of My Life
CATEGORY B (Individual Poem Grades 5-6)
Samia Ahmed, Bay Shore Middle School – Your Mom
Zainab Chowdhury, WT Clarke Middle School – Flaws and Awes
Ford Duchatelier, Bay Shore Middle School – Essence of My Being
Daniel Garcia, The Laurel Hill School – Containing Multitudes
Ava Grello, Bay Shore Middle School – A Dad I Never Knew
Yael Mozes, The Laurel Hill School – Cracked and Crumbled
Zaynab Najimi, Sunquam Elementary School – Who I Am
Riley Wagner, Edward J. Bosti Elementary School- You and I
Lauren Wells, JFK Elementary School, West Babylon – Friends and Me
Elizabeth Wilkinson, The Laurel Hill School – Inside the Nutshell
CATEGORY C (Individual Poem Grades 7-8)
Ally Angell, WT Clarke Middle School – Anywhere
Kiana Bonifacio , Tuckahoe Common Middle School – Crochet
Amartya Das, Robert Cushman Murphy Junior High School, Endless Flow
Emmanuel Halkias, Manhasset Middle School – Evolving
Allie Harrison, Gelinas Junior High School, My Knot of Life
Andalucia Navetta, Wantagh Middle School – Fraud
Anna Regan, Weber Middle School – Puzzle
Sienna Rodriguez, Manhasset Middle School – Right Where You Left Me
Isabelle Rubino, Mount Siani Middle School – Healing Tree
Koharu Sato, Manhasset Middle School – My Name
Jacob Torczyner, Hebrew Academy – Unaware
Valerie Torres, Spring School – Reflection
Oliver Won, Great Neck South Middle School – The Multitudes
Nancy Yu, New Hyde Park Memorial High School – Bird and Me
CATEGORY D (Individual Poem Grades 9-10)
Anika Amin, Saint Ann’s School, Brooklyn – A Mosaic
Hannah Bahn, Saint Ann’s School, Brooklyn – Paper Cranes
Sophia Bergeron, South Lyon East High School, Michigan – Me, Moment
Colleen Carroll, Eastport-South – Sister
AnnaBelle Deaner, Half Hollow Hills East HS – Unabated Passion
Giuliana DePaola, Floral Park High School – Ink, Coffee & Postage Stamps
Isabella Fernandim, Sacred Heart Academy – To know You is to Know Me
Anelisa Fulgieri, C. Mepham High School – Home
Emilin Georges, New Hyde Park High School – American
Isabella Gonzalez, Long Beach High School – The Beauty of the World
Cate Grady, Sacred Heart Academy – Girl of Sand
Rachel Ha, Herricks High School – Even Blue Has Multitudes
Isabella Kohl, Roslyn High School – Jew(ish)
Caitlin Lee, Herricks High School – Spear of Summer Grass
Julia Milos, Oyster Bay High Schgool – All and More
Vladimir Mkrtchian, C. Mepham High School – Jazve
Arianna Muhammad, New Hyde Park High School – Memories of Mine
Rizwan Rumi, New Hyde Park High School – Bulletproof
Natalia Sanchez, Smithtown High School – Goldfish
Ashna Shah, Syosset High School – Unheard Melody
Siddhanth Surya, New Hyde Park High School – A Long Way to Go
Jaclyn Xue, Plainview Old Bethpage JFK High School – If I were Free
CATEGORY E (Individual Poem Grades 11-12)
Lyla Forest Butler, Saint Ann’s School, Brooklyn – Burn Scars
Lyla Forest Butler, Saint Ann’s School, Brooklyn – This is All You Need to Know
Luis Covera, Uniondale High School – Happiness
Seth Del Orbe, New Hyde Park Memorial High School – Terrible, Just Awful
Adelrhay Georges, Walt Whitman High School – The Vine That Swallowed the South
Queenie Liu, New Hyde Park Memorial High School – Places Visited
Adelyn Loh, Herricks High School – Burdens
Paige MacPherson, Walt Whitman High School – The War of Individuality
Candida Villalta Meza, Walt Whitman High School – Fluid
Allison Xu, Walter Johnson High School, Maryland – Sky Lanterns
Emily Grace Zabala, New Hyde Park Memorial High School – Multitudes
CATEGORY I (Class Anthology Grades 7-8)
Kelly Doran, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 7, Period 8 – Everyone’s Story
Kelly Doran, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 7, Period 7 – Listen To Who I Am
Kelly Doran, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 7, Period 3 – Chapters of Life
Nicole Pomaro, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 8, Period 9 – The Many Parts That Make Us Whole
Nicole Wallace, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 7, Period 1 – A Multitude of Poems
Nicole Wallace, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 8, Period 2 – A Multitude of Poems
Nicole Wallace, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 8, Period 3 – A Multitude of Poems
Nicole Wallace, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 8, Period 9 – A Multitude of Poems
Nicole Wallace, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 8, Period 6 – A Multitude of Poems
CATEGORY J (Class Anthology Grades 9-10)
Melissa Martin, Eastport South Manor CSD – We Are Multitudes
Nicole Junjulas, Massapequa High School – Beauty and Grace in All Things
CATEGORY K (Class Anthology Grades 11-12)
Colleen Cho, Plainview Old Bethpage JFK High School, Grade 11, Period 2, I Encompass Worlds
Colleen Cho, Plainview Old Bethpage JFK High School, Grade 11, Period 4, Versions of Myself
Deirdre Faughey, Oyster Bay High School, Grade 11, Period 4 – A Melodic Escape
Melissa Martin, Eastport South Manor High School, Grade 11, Period 5 – All Shapes and Sizes
CATEGORY L (Multi-Media)
Lilly Dejesus, Mount Sinai Middle School – Only Me
Maiya Staudt, Mount Sinai Middle School – The Pursuit
Guidelines
Click Any Tab Below for Contest Guidelines
THEME: “Song of the Open Road”
ELIGIBILITY: Students in grades 3–12
ENTRANCE CATEGORIES:
Category A — Individual poem, grades 3–4
Category B — Individual poem, grades 5–6
Category C — Individual poem, grades 7–8
Category D — Individual poem, grades 9–10
Category E — Individual poem, grades 11–12
Category F — Individual anthology
Category G — Class anthology, grades 3–4
Category H — Class anthology, grades 5–6
Category I — Class anthology, grades 7–8
Category J — Class anthology, grades 9–10
Category K — Class anthology, grades 11–12
Category L — Multi-media
1. Submit a poem of up to 30 lines or less. Longer poems will be disqualified.
2. Multi-lingual poems welcome, with English translation.
3. Individual poems MUST have the following information on EACH page or poems will be disqualified:
- Poem title and entrance category
- Student AND teacher’s email (address must accept outside emails.)
- Entrant’s name, complete address, home phone number, age, and grade level.
- School name, complete address, school phone number, and teacher’s name.
- Teacher’s submitting multiple entries must note grade and class period on each individual poem.
4. Class anthology MUST have the following information or anthologies will be disqualified:
- Anthology title
- Title sheet with the entrance category, teacher’s name, grade, school name, school phone number, teacher’s email, and complete address.
- Each poem must include the student poet’s name. Students may enter a poem in an anthology and as an individual poem.
- All anthology poems should be in book form.
- Teacher’s submitting multiple entries must put the title, grade, AND class period on each anthology.
Entries must be emailed with a date stamped by February 26, 2024.
All poems and anthologies are judged by a panel of published poets selected by the Birthplace Trustees.
- Winners will be notified by April 1st with winners’ names posted on WWBA website by May 1st. If there is any objection to the posting of a student name, please contact educator@waltwhitman.org
- Winners’ names will be published in WWBA Award Program which will be distributed at our Awards Ceremony.
- Awards will be distributed on Sunday, May 5, 2024, at 12PM, at the Awards event, held at the Walt Whitman Birthplace.
- Nationally known, Linda Gregerson, our 2024 Poet in Residence, officiates the award ceremony.
- Grand Champion and multiple prize winners will be awarded in each category.
- Individual entries and anthologies will NOT be retained or returned.
- Awards will be held for pickup at the Walt Whitman Birthplace, only awards for out-of-state winners will be mailed.
Submit your entry through our online form >>
All submissions become the property of Walt Whitman Birthplace Association and may be published in a future anthology. Students retain all rights to their poem/poems.
Submissions due Monday, February 26, 2024.
Good luck to all students!
