The poetry of four Mount Madonna School students, BY Swamy, Lulu Morell-Haltom, McKenzie Caborn, and Kavi Duvvoori, has been accepted and included in the 18th Annual Santa Cruz County High School Poetry Competition and Anthology. The public is invited to listen to student readings at an awards ceremony on Tuesday, May 17 at 7:00pm at the Santa Cruz County Office of Education (400 Encinal St., Santa Cruz).
Accepted into the anthology are: Children of the Old World by BY Swamy, 12th, which also received an Honorable Mention; Kite by Lulu Morell-Haltom, 11th; Lost Youth by McKenzie Caborn, 11th; and Blinking in Reverse by Kavi Duvvoori, 10th.
“Congratulations to ALL the MMS students who submitted to the SC Poetry contest. Competition was fierce this year with over 1500 entries!,” says Melissa Sanders-Self, Mount Madonna’s high school English teacher. Sanders-Self also lectures in the Literature and Creative Writing departments at UCSC, and is a published author and filmmaker.
“Our high school students work hard in our creative writing classes to learn and master many different forms of poetry and I am always impressed by the moving and well-crafted results,” she says. “The four poems selected for the anthology this year include a sestina, a concrete poem, a free verse poem and a villanelle. Each of them contains vivid imagery and beautiful lines of wisdom and insight.”
The event is presented by Poetry Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz County Office of Education. Copies of the anthology will be available for purchase at the event for $5.
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Nestled among the redwoods on 355 mountaintop acres, Mount Madonna is a safe and nurturing college-preparatory school that supports students in becoming caring, self-aware and articulate critical thinkers, who are prepared to meet challenges with perseverance, creativity and integrity. The CAIS and WASC accredited program emphasizes academic excellence, creative self-expression and positive character development. Located on Summit Road between Gilroy and Watsonville.
