Plagues and pandemics of the past have been known to inspire great works of writing. As the internet has been quick to point out, Shakespeare wrote "King Lear" while quarantined amid a plague.
So while teens of today have had their spring and summer traditions upended by the coronavirus outbreak, they are in the company of the Bard and other greats when trying their hand at writing.
This week, the Georgia Council for the Arts and the state’s poet laureate, Chelsea Rathburn, announced the finalists and winners in an annual contest to highlight the work of teen writers throughout the state.
The Poet Laureate's Prize, now in its seventh year, recognizes original poetry written by Georgia high school students. A winner and four finalists are selected by Rathburn.
The contest, launched by former Georgia poet laureate Judson Mitcham, is open to students in grades 9 through 12 across the state.
It's meant to encourage the state's teens to try their hand at poetry. And, "designed to bring recognition to the careful art of the written word, which is particularly important in a time that increasingly subordinates word to image," Mitcham previously told Atlanta Magazine.
Annually, the magazine publishes the winning pieces.
This year’s winning poem, titled “Seascape,” was penned by Sarah Lao, a junior at Westminster Schools in Atlanta.
The four works selected as finalists are: “unheaven” by Ashanti Nyame-Gyebi, a junior at Paul Duke STEM High School; “Bullet” by Keonta’e Guy, a 16-year-old student at Grady High school; “Hair” by Alicia Mazzurra, a senior at River Ridge High School; and “Snakeskin” by Clara Allison, a junior at DeKalb School of the Arts.
The student's poems can be read here.
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