2021 RIVER OF WORDS WINNERS & FINALISTS
2021 Category I Winners
Poetry: Brooklyn Long, age 8, Georgia, United States
Art: Angelo Chan Po Chi, age 7, Hong Kong, China
2021 Category II Winners
Poetry: Austin Lu, age 10, Ontario, Canada
Art: Ivy Mo age, 10, New York, United States
2021 Category III Winners
Poetry: Owen Ni, age 13, Washington, United States
Art: Yiming Mao, age 11, New York, United States
2021 Category IV Winners
Poetry: Indigo Mudbhary, age 17, California, United States
Poetry: Zoe Mello Zdraveski, age 16, Massachusetts, United States
Art: Seo Jin Moon, age 17, New York, United States
International Prize Winner
Poetry: Myungjae Han, age 16, Hong Kong, China
Monkey’s Raincoat Prize (Honoring a short poem in the haiku tradition)
Sigourney Hanh King, age 11, Ontario, Canada
One Square Block Prize (Honoring a poem that examines city-scapes and the interactions between the manmade and natural world)
Sarah Zhang, age 16, New York, United States
Shasta Bioregion Prize (Honoring an artist or poetry from a Northern Watershed)
Avah Dodson, age 12, California United States
On Writing (Honoring a poem about writing)
Christopher Rivas, age 16, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
2021 Art Finalists
Ava Allison, age 7, Utah, United States
Meepian Roopkaew, age 6, Thailand
Minseok Lee, age 10, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Marley Bernstein, age 1, Massachusetts, United States
Anika Roy, age 16, Michigan, United States
Rey Campos, age 18, Arizona, United States
Hafsa Firdaus, age 8, Pleasanton, California, United States
Bethel Eyasu, age 7, Tucson, Arizona, United States
Dario Espinoza, age 7, Irvine, California, United States
Aniyah Dunn, age 6, Tucson, Arizona, United States
Pak Hei Chan, age 5, Hong Kong, China
Benjamin Castaneda, age 8, Oro Valley, Arizona, United States
Kalel Attonito, age 6, Darien, Cincinnati, United States
Noelle Shim, age 7, San Francisco, California, United States
Celine Xie, age 6, Pleasanton, California, United States
Valonia Ren, age 9, Ogden, Utah, United States
Isabella Owens, age 10, Tucson, Arizona, United States
Allison Oh, age 9, Carmichael, California, United States
Talia Marx, age 8, Westfield, Massachusetts, United States
Dasangee Madhurya Kulanthunga, age 8, Bataganvi, Galle, Sri Lanka
Madison Hibner, age 8, West Springfield, Massachusetts, United States
Summer Woolridge, age 11, Waterloo, Canada
Helen Wang, age 11, Jericho, New York, United States
Jessica Mitchell, age 10, Waterloo, Canada
Kanyanan Jirathanaprasert, age 12, Bangkok, Thailand
Hui Ching Wong, age 13, Hong Kong, China
Angelleena Hoover, age 12, Tucson, Arizona, United States
Jacob Y Glabb, age 11, Waterloo, Canada
Alexis Gallagher, age 11, Waterloo, Canada
Dexter Clark, age 13, Spanish Fork, Utah, United States
Hei Yu Chui, age 13, Hong Kong, China
Ryan Chen, age 10, Jericho, New York, United States
Kaitlyn Chan, age 12, Newark, California, United States
Rhea Bedi, age 11, Newark, California, United States
Sarah Ahned, age 11, Waterloo, Canada
Stephania Lieben, age 14, Lafayette, California, United States
Solon Augspurger, age 15, Davenport, Iowa, United States
Lois Blackman, age 15, Davenport, Iowa, United States
Maia Garcia, age 15, Tucson, Arizona, United States
Madison Medina, age 17, Cleveland, Alabama, United States
Yam Wing Lam, age 16, Hong Kong, China
2021 Poetry Finalists
Flynn MacQueen, age 7, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Buckley Gresham, age 7, Bethlehem, Georgia, United States
Exie Christensen, age 6, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States
Chanelie Karunarathna, age 6, Matara, Sri Lanka
Arjun Ranga, age 6, Berkeley, California, United States
Everett Ward, age 7, McLean, Virginia, United States
Brielle Cliett, age 9, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Charlie Valk, age 8, Decatur, Georgia, United States
Caleb Shelton, age 10, Georgia, United States
Austin Lu, age 10, Ontario, Canada
Wesley Hennekes, age 10, Houston, Texas, United States
Alexandra Huynh, age 12, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Caleigh Parker, age 10, Savannah, Georgia, United States
Blake Anderson, age 14, Kennesaw, Georgia, United States
Mary Beaver, age 14, Acworth, Georgia, United States
Peyton Cheung, age 13, Alameda, California, United States
Kade Treadway, age 11, Traverse City, Michigan, United States
Alyssa Wu, age 13, Pleasanton, California, United States
Evelyn Spaeth, age 13, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
Chloe Liu, age 13, Sammamish, Washington, United States
Laurel Aronian, age 13, North Salem, New York, United States
Rachel Park, age 13, Irvine, California, United States
James Park, age 13, Irvine, California, United States
Max van Someren, age 12, Boulder, Colorado, United States
Soheon Rhee, age 12, Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines
Sun Yoon, age 17, Seoul, South Korea
Emily Niebuhr, age 15, San Luis Obispo, California, United States
T. Han, age 16, Irvine, California, United States
Christopher Rivas,age 16, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Clara Templin, age 17, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Brynn Beatty, age 18, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Alisha Wong, age 16, Farmington, Minnesota, United States
Zion Cook, age 17, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Meghan Williams, age 18, Georgia, United States
Sarah Street, 18, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Zemmie Mullis, 17, Monroe, Georgia, United States
Michelle Zhang, 17, Macon, Georgia, United States
2021 Art and Poetry Galleries will be up soon!
A special thank you to our Poetry & Art Judges and our ROW Team for making the 2021 selection process possible: Andrew Mount (Art Director), Luz Casquejo Johnston (Former Director of the Center for Environmental Literacy in 2020), Maureen Esty (2020 River of Words Coordinator), Grace Bunting (Student Worker) and Troy Rockett (2021 River of Words Coordinator).
And thank you to our student leaders on the ROW Team: MFA Students - Kassandra Tate & Anna Nicole Torres, English Undergraduates - Samantha Newman, Sophia Nguyen, Shanali De Silva, & Maya Dahlbacka. With an increase in submissions this year and an entirely remote judging process, we are grateful for an excellent job well done for leading our poetry selection.
Now accepting entries for the 2022 ROW Contest! If you or someone you know are eligible, Online Student Entry Forms are available on our website. We are excited to implement a new sustainability practice for our art & poetry. Submissions for our 2022 contest will be received electronically and will only be accepted by mail under extreme circumstances. Please reach out to us if you need help submitting your piece through our online submission portal. You can find the appropriate deadlines and mailing addresses according to your region at the bottom of the River of Words Art and Poetry Contest page.
2020 Winners and Finalists
2020 Category I Winner
Poetry: Adam Nelson, age 8, Tucson, AZ. United States
Art: London Adams (age 7), Amir Alzendan (age 8), Ashtyn Gibson (age 7), Patrichia Giuillaume(age 7), and Queen Sumaiyah Pierre (age 7), Brooklyn, NY. United States
2020 Category II Winner
Poetry: Jaden Sivananttan, age 10, Washington, DC. United States
Art: Charlie Valk, age 9, Decatur, GA. United States
2020 Category III Winner
Poetry: Rishi Lakshminarayanan, age 13, Bellevue, WA. United States
Art: Carly Katulka, age 13, Gainsville , GA. United States
2020 Category IV Winner
Poetry: Ada Heller, age 17, Lenexa, KS. United States
Art: Daye Kwon, age 16, Little Rock, AR. United States
2020 International Prize Winner
Mohammad Shafiq, age 14, Quetta, Balochistan. Pakistan (Afg refugee)
Monkey’s Raincoat Prize (honoring a short poem in the haiku tradition)
Esther Kim, age 16, Potomac, MD. United States
One Square Block Prize (honoring a poem that examines city-scapes and the interactions between the manmade and the natural world)
Ellen Rogers, age 17, New Orleans, LA. United States
Shasta Bioregion Prize (honoring a artist or poet from a Northern California watershed)
Aaron Huang, age 13, Los Altos, CA. United States
2020 Art Finalists
Kyndel Abercrombie, age 16, Alpharetta, GA. United States
Evelyn Allen, age 10, Tucson, AZ. United States
Aisyah Hana Amir Khairi, age 7, Rawang, Selangor. Malaysia
Lily Andrus, age 13, New Market, AL. United States
Amelia Bell, age 11, Decatur, GA. United States
Zoe Bellon, age 17, Johns Creek, GA. United States
Olivia DeFrancesco, age 13, Stockridge, GA. United States
Jennylee Dilney, age 8, Zachary, LA. United States
Aayushi Dixit, age 10, Fremont, CA. United States
Gabrielle Dolby, age 7, Mableton, GA. United States
Ashleigh Feltman, age 17, Chatsworth, GA. United States
Sophia Glosser, age 11, Pittsburgh, PA. United States
Camille Hall, age 13, McDonough, GA. United States
Yat Hang Li, age 6, Hong Kong, China. China
Alexandra Huynh, age 11, Atlanta, GA. United States
Kanyanan Jirathanaprasert, age 11, Bangkok. Thailand
Ranando JoseMaria Jr, age 8, Tucson, AZ. United States
Anya Kaldonski, age 7, Marana, AZ. United States
Andrew Kim, age 15, North Caldwell, NJ. United States
Jimmy Lin, age 7, Braselton, GA. United States
Olivia Lipinski, age 9, Rochester, WA. United States
Dario Liu, age 12, Alpharetta, GA. United States
Tiffany Lutan, age 15, San Ramon, CA. United States
Kaylee Minor, age 16, Harvest, AL. United States
Alivia Nagel, age 12, Buford, GA. United States
Punyanut Numnual, age 10, Bangkok. Thailand
Leon Obezo, age 6, Tucson, AZ. United States
Harini Ohm, age 6, Kennesaw, GA. United States
Camille Oliver , age 17, Irondale, AL. United States
Ithiya Oophaichit, age 8, Bangkok. Thailand
Aida Pardo, age 12, Atlanta, GA. United States
Josh Perlmutter, age 8, Atlanta, GA. United States
Connor Rapp, age 8, Rochester, WA. United States
Jessica Rhee, age 14, Conyers, GA. United States
Myles Steinberger, age 12, Argyle, NY. United States
Daniel Sturz, age 7, Roswell, GA. United States
Yuna Suh, age 12, Atherton, CA. United States
Jessica Thomas, age 18, Madison, AL. United States
Xin Tong, age 17, Guangzhou. China
Emily Wallace, age 16, Owens Cross Roads, AL. United States
Gabriel Wolfersberger, age 11, Atlanta, GA. United States
Lok Yung Wong, age 14, Hong Kong. China
Alyssa Wu, age 12, Pleasanton, CA. United States
2020 Poetry Finalists
Zaza Anaza, age 12, New Orleans, LA. United States
Alex Araujo, age 9, San Benito, CA. United States
Brynn Beatty, age 17, New Orleans, LA. United States
Kyle Beck, age 7, Lithia Springs, GA. United States
Ava Grace Bilello, age 7, Thomasville, GA. United States
Skye Brookfield, age 11, Washington, DC. United States
Mayan Caplan, age 16, Denver, CO. United States
Parinita Chandrashekar, age 12, Bridgewater, NJ. United States
Exie Christensen, age 5, Colorado Springs, CO. United States
Brielle Cliett, age 8, Atlanta, GA. United States
Gabriel Encarnacion-Tolentino, age 9, Centralia, WA. United States
Camila Garate, age 6, Tucson, AZ. United States
Cora Gerdes, age 13, Sarasota, FL. United States
Madelyn Hand, age 7, Tucson, AZ. United States
Katherine Haycox, age 14, Shoreline, WA. United States
Kendall Herndon, age 11, Washington, DC. United States
Alyssa Ho, age 15, Pasadena, CA. United States
Esther Kim, age 16, Potomac, MD. United States
Minseo Kim, age 16, Caroline Springs, Victoria. Australia
Nethra Madhav, age 12, San Jose, CA. United States
Abel Meyer, age 14, Seattle, WA. United States
Esperanza Milla, age 17, New Orleans, LA. United States
Yunus Nufarou, age 9, Cumming, GA. United States
Solana Owens, age 11, Aztec, NM. United States
Shaveta Papolu, age 16, Cypress, CA. United States
Christopher Pham, age 13, Kirkland, WA. United States
Olivia Ponis, age 10, Rochester, WA. United States
Sam Popp, age 10, Washington, DC. United States
Peyton Puls, age 8, Tucson, AZ. United States
Clarise Reichley, age 15, Denver, CO. United States
Maria Robles, age 7, Tuscon, AZ. United States
Violet Rodriguez, age 8, Hayward, CA. United States
Kayla Santanilla, age 12, New Orleans, LA. United States
Esther Sun, age 16, Los Gatos, CA. United States
Evelyn Swinford, age 8, Marietta, GA. United States
Clara Templin, age 16, New Orleans, LA. United States
Bruce Tete, age 15, New Orleans, LA. United States
Sunny Vuong, age 15, San Antonio, TX. United States
Lydia Wells, age 11, Cumming, GA. United States
Kevin Wu, age 9, Bellevue, WA. United States
Michael Zhao, age 16, San Jose, CA. United States