Eighth Annual Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards Celebrates Young Writers Across Illinois

“The Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards are a testament to the profound creativity and imagination of our state’s youth,” says Illinois Humanities Executive Director Gabrielle Lyon.

CHICAGO, September 4, 2024 – Illinois Humanities, in partnership with Brooks Permissions, the Poetry Foundation, and the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, is proud to announce the winners of the 2024 Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards, an annual competition for Illinois poets in grades K–12. The 26 winners and 12 honorable mentions were chosen from a record 988 submissions representing over 150 schools from across the state — the most competitive awards to date. Two of this year’s recognized student poets are past winners, exemplifying the Awards’ opportunity to introduce young writers as well as witness their growth and enduring love for poetry through their education. 

Gwendolyn Brooks began the Youth Poetry Awards in 1969 during her tenure as Illinois Poet Laureate and continued to administer the awards until her passing in 2000. The awards were born out of Ms. Brooks’s belief that a poet laureate “should do more than wear a crown — [she] should be of service to the young.”

Illinois Humanities revived the youth poetry competition in 2017 to honor her tremendous legacy and to celebrate and amplify the words and experiences of young writers from across Illinois. In the years since the reignition of the awards, over 4,400 poems have been submitted from youth poets all across the state. 

“The Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards are a testament to the profound creativity and imagination of our state’s youth,” said Gabrielle Lyon, executive director of Illinois Humanities. “Year after year, we receive hundreds of submissions, each carrying a unique story that reflects the backgrounds, experiences, and personalities of our young writers. It is both an honor and a privilege to carry on Ms. Brooks’s legacy and amplify the voices of the next generation of Illinois poets.” 

Illinois Humanities Program Manager of Teaching and Learning, Margy LaFreniere reports that common themes in this year’s Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards poems were places with special significance to the poets, interpersonal relationships, and nature, including the climate crisis.

“Being a young person at this time in history can feel overwhelming. They have access to so much information, and not all of it is inspiring,” LaFreniere explained. “The poems this year had nuance that was often surprising for the poets’ ages.”

The Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards competition runs annually from January through May and is open to all Illinoisans in grades K–12. Winners of the 2024 Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards receive a monetary prize, publication in a chapbook, and the honor of participating in Brooks’s legacy. 

The winning poets will be celebrated at a private ceremony on September 14 at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago. Winners will recite their poems for friends, families, and teachers. 

Learn more about the awards at ILHumanities.org/Poetry. 

The 2024 Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Award Winners are:

Kindergarten:

• “Special” by Essence Dean, Chicago
• “Super Girl Power” by Nova Lansana, Chicago

First Grade:

• “The Ducklings” by Sawyer Redhair, Frankfort
• “My School” by Ingmar Almqvist, Chicago
• Honorable Mention: “Saturday” by Lorenzo Diaz, Oak Park

Second Grade: 

• “The Man and the Tiger” by Athena Saleh, Oak Park
• “Ode to a Library” by Antonio Galindo, Peoria
• Honorable Mention: “The Beach Day” by Clara Locke, Peoria

Third Grade: 

• “The Sunset in Me” by Sasha Smous, Chicago
• “Irresistible Turkish Delight” by Sophia Saca, Skokie
• Honorable Mention: “Mount Eve” by Alta Nekrosius, Oak Park

Fourth Grade: 

• “Brave Rosa, Rosa Brave” by Milly Graunke, Chicago
• “THINK AGAIN” by Devi Koottanal, Des Plaines
• Honorable Mention: “To Time” by Aria Koshy, Chicago

Fifth Grade: 

• “Precipitation’s Personalities” by Cecelia Carson, Oak Park
• “If Livid Were a Creature” by Reed Johnson, Chicago
• Honorable Mention: “The Cage” by Charlotte Chung, Chicago

Sixth Grade:

• “The Life of Definement” by Isabella Castaneda, Joliet
• “Softball is Everything” by Callen Teplitzky, Chicago
• Honorable Mention: “Where do all the flowers go?” by Avani Reddy, Des Plaines

Seventh Grade: 

• “Music is My Peace” by Cecilia Solorio, Chicago
• “The Moon’s Visage” by Noelle Malek, Skokie
• Honorable Mention: “nighttime.” by Sheridan Darko, Chicago

Eighth Grade: 

• “Once a Burden” by Heaven Harris, Chicago
• “Diseased Silence” by Ellie Hersher-Dale, Evanston
• Honorable Mention: “We See Each Other” by Sanaia Cole, Springfield

Ninth Grade:

• “The House (Pantoum)” by Lucia Almeida, Chicago
• “Who I am” by Mila Plavsic, Chicago
• Honorable Mention: “What I wish…” by Azreya Lomeli, Chicago

Tenth Grade: 

• “I AM A BAD SPEAKER.” by Belen Salamanca, Chicago
• “Learning to Swim, Fishing for Seashells” by Leena Ahmad, Orland Park
• Honorable Mention: “X” by Emily Chorvat, Oswego

Eleventh Grade: 

• “THE ANATOMY OF A ROASTED MARSHMALLOW” by Finch Shaw, Lincolnshire
• “what it’s like to live in a body that’s failing you (for those who don’t)” by Andrew Fajardo, Naperville
• Honorable Mention: “Heart, Lungs, Teeth” by Anonymous, Chicago

Twelfth Grade: 

• “THE TOWN OF SANOK, UNTITLED, 1972” by Lance Chaney, Mattoon
• “Venado” by Raven Belmontez, Chicago
• Honorable Mention: “to the quiet girl” by Kamaria Noble, Chicago