Gaithersburg Book Festival Announces High School Poetry Contest Winner

GAITHERSBURG, MD — Three winners were announced in the Gaithersburg Book Festival's High School Poetry Contest, including one from Montgomery County.

A local poet, Gregory Luce, judged the poems. The winners were announced at the festival, which took place this past Saturday.

"The talent and dedication to writing that these poems display was both impressive and heartening," Luce said in a news release. "To be able to witness the arrival of a new generation of poets is a remarkable and joyous experience."

• First Prize: Eugene Tibbs, junior at Landon School, resident of Arlington, Va., was awarded first prize for his poem "Reflections of the Delta."
• Second Prize: Allison Xu, a sophomore at Walter Johnson High School, resident of Rockville, awarded for "Sky Lanterns," which also was selected as the Fan Favorite.
• Third Prize: Lucy Collins, a Columbia resident and junior at Archbishop Spalding High School, for "The Exodus of Icarus."

The program was open to high school students who live in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

The Gaithersburg Book Festival returned in person after several years of remote programming due to the pandemic. There were featured writers along with free workshops for local writers looking to hone their craft.

"Since its inception in 2010, the Festival has quickly become one of the nation's top literary events, attracting hundreds of award-winning and best-selling authors, poets and songwriters from across the country to its beautiful park setting," the festival's website says.