The competition was fierce, with 156 writers competing for poetic fame and fortune in our National Poetry Month poetry contest in honor of U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón’s visit to UC Santa Barbara this week. Judged by a panel of distinguished poets that included Robert Krut (UCSB Writing Program, College of Creative Studies), Melinda Palacio (Santa Barbara Poet Laureate 2023-2025), and Chryss Yost (Santa Barbara Poet Laureate 2013-2015), as well as Limón, who made the final selections from the pool of honorable mentions, the entries were divided into two categories, K-12 students and adults age 18+.
By category, the winners were:
K-12
Winner: Marley Bernsen, untitled, “what about the wanderers”