Welcome & Opening
The community room at the Atherton Library was packed on November 9th for the award ceremony. Young poets, along with their friends and families, gathered eagerly awaiting the announcement of the winners. The ceremony opened with gratitude to the Atherton Library for their support and to our judges for the time and care they devoted to reviewing the submissions.
Fireside Chat
Next came a fireside chat with two of the judges — Jackson Holbert (Stanford) and Kristin Hall (Kepler's). This portion of the ceremony received wonderfully positive feedback. Participants enjoyed hearing about the judges' career paths and how they discovered poetry.
Coincidentally, Mr. Holbert began his poetry journey by writing a poem for a contest, and continued writing after joining a community where everyone wrote. That story resonated deeply. One of the central motivations for organizing this contest is to build a community of young writers and poets who can inspire one another — a sense of community that is especially meaningful in today's increasingly isolated digital age.
Winners & Readings
The winners were announced for each category, and award recipients were invited to read their poems aloud. Hearing the emotion and passion behind each piece was truly moving. It was also a wonderful opportunity for elementary school winners to build confidence speaking in front of a full audience.
The enthusiastic feedback from this event reinforced the belief in the power of poetry to bring people together — and inspired plans to continue this initiative with the 2026 contest.
