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By Joanne Lum
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May. 23, 2009 |
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Four of the 10 students who submitted entries to an annual citywide poetry contest on April 1 will receive their awards tomorrow.
In this year’s Young at Art Literary Art Contest, sponsored by the San
Francisco Unified School District, freshman Deedee Pearce won the first
place prize in the high school poetry category, freshman Anna Chen took
second and freshmen Karissa Tom and Nancy Wu both won honorable
mentions. Entries were judged using a blind process by Bay Area authors
Beth Lisick, Mark Routhier and Truong Tran.
The winners were notified on May 5, according to visiting poetry
teacher Susan Terence, who is affiliated with California Poets in the
Schools — a program in which accomplished poets teach over 30,000
California students annually. Terence has been leading poetry sessions
for over 10 years, funded by the Lowell Alumni Association. During her
residency at Lowell, she teaches freshmen different styles of poetry
every Thursday during freshmen English poetry units. For Young at Art
and other contests, she has students write poems from which she selects
the best to enter into contests. “The (winners) were very excited and
pleased,” Terence said.
The winners said they were surprised by their achievements since they
had not originally intended to compete with their poems. “I was
shocked,” Chen said. “I never suspected that my poem would win second
place — it was only supposed to be a homework assignment.”
According to Terence, each high school was allowed to enter up to 10
poems. Terence explained she chose the poems after a long process of
debating which ones stood out most. “There were so many strong poems,”
Terence said. “I picked out ones that have the strongest imagery, the
most beautiful and visual use of language and the strongest and most
powerful message.”
To prepare for the contest, students read poetry samples of past
winners’ and famous poets’ works. Students said they were also inspired
by their family and friends. “I wanted to re-create something that was
meaningful to me — a special event or a favorite memory,” Chen said.
Pearce said she found inspiration in the simplicity of everyday life.
“I was simply inspired by the stages of the day and their own
individual beauty,” she said.
Terence said she was not only captivated by the writing skill of the
winners, but also by that of Lowell’s freshmen in general. “I’m
absolutely impressed with the students’ writing at Lowell,” she said.
“The quality is high, expressive and heartfelt.”
Winners will attend the literary arts event tomorrow from 2-4 p.m. at
the Koret Theater in the de Young Museum, where first place winners
will read their works, along with second place readers if time permits.
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