The 2022 Georgia Poet Laureate Prize Winner

This week, Georgia’s Poet Laureate, Chelsea Rathburn, in collaboration with Georgia Council for the Arts, announced the winner and finalists of the ninth annual Poet Laureate’s Prize. The prize is awarded for an original poem written by a Georgia high school student. This annual program is designed to encourage students in grades nine through 12 to write original poems and engage in the art form of poetry. Students submitted poems during the 2021-2022 school year, and the students’ grade levels noted below reflect that time period.

WINNER

Aran Sonnad-Joshi

“The Stargazer”

11th grade

Midtown High School

Atlanta

FINALISTS

Emerson Keen

“Gauche”

10th grade

Decatur High School

Decatur

Isabel Liu

“July”

10th grade

Wheeler High School

Marietta

JeongHyeon (Erica) Yun

“Mid-Summer Karaoke and I Want You to Look at Me”

11th grade

McIntosh High School

Peachtree City

Lydia Ruth Witter

“I Had a Good Time”

12th grade

Decatur High School

Decatur

“Judging the Poet Laureate’s Prize is always difficult given the number of talented writers in high schools across the state, but it’s a rewarding challenge,” said Georgia Poet Laureate Chelsea Rathburn. “Reading this year’s submissions, I was reminded of poetry’s power to express complex insights and emotions in a small space, bringing personal experience to life for others. I’m thrilled to celebrate this year’s winner and finalists, and I suspect we’ll be reading more of their work in the future.”

Read the poems and learn more about the prize here.