NORTH KOHALA YOUTH POETRY CONTEST

                           NORTH KOHALA YOUTH POETRY CONTEST RESULTS
 
The winners of the first North Kohala Youth Poetry Contest were announced May 15. They include:

First place, $500, to Ayla Alcoran Miyamoto for the poem “To Kohala…From Me”
Second place, $300, to Alston Hezekiah Viernes for the poem “N$ Poem”
Third place, $200, to Soul G. Rees for the poem “The Sound of Wind”
Three additional finalists were selected:
Haumea Maka’iolani Keohuloa, for “She is Kohala”
Dante Murray for “Nowhere Like Kohala”
Kaimana Nakamura for “Kohala’s a Show”
 
The six poets will be honored at an awards ceremony to be held on Monday, June 17 beginning at 5:15 p.m. at the North Kohala Public Library in Kapa’au. The students have been invited to recite their winning entries at the celebration. The students will receive a one-year membership in the Guild and have their poems published on the Guild website.
 
           The contest, sponsored by Hawaii Writers Guild, was organized by Guild members Michael Foley and Carol Prescott.  Students in grades 9-12 were invited to write a poem on the theme “My Kohala” that expressed their connection to the land and/or people of Kohala. More than 50 entries were submitted, including entries from homeschooled students.
 
​            Prescott and Foley, both poets and residents of North Kohala, were joined in the judging by Kumu Keala Ching, composer, song writer, educator and Hawaiian cultural practitioner. Money for the prizes was made available by the organizers and Hawaii Writers Guild, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.  The awards ceremony and reading, which will be hosted by Foley and Prescott, is free and open to the public. For information about the event, contact Carol Prescott at [email protected]