Scotts Valley City Hall was temporarily transformed into a poet’s performance space on May 2 for the winners of Scotts Valley Arts Commission’s 2024 Verse of the Valley Poetry Contest.
Poets, friends, family and members of the Scotts Valley Arts Commission filled City Hall to hear local poets of all ages read their winning poems. The contest theme centered on community, with winning entries reflecting on friends, fellow students, nature and more.
“I was excited and a little nervous to read my poem,” said poet Adina Licht, whose poem “Chosen Family” was one of the winning poems selected for reading that day. “Writing a poem feels like putting myself out there in a very vulnerable way. And it isn’t easy to be vulnerable like that. But I was also thinking about how exciting an honor it is to be someone who gets to read a poem they write out loud to other people. And at the same time, I was also thinking that maybe I could just hand everyone the words because they are already written down.”
“I was also feeling so much gratitude for our very giving community,” added Licht. “I am especially grateful for the Arts Commission and for Melissa Walpole. Melissa runs the Scotts Valley High School Library, and she encouraged many of us who visit and/or help out at the library to try writing and submitting poems. With her warmth and encouragement, Melissa has created a beautiful community at the library where everyone feels both welcomed to visit and welcomed to try new things. She is the best!”
So despite any nervousness, the local poets got up in front of a packed house at City Hall and recited poetry about what they see in this community.
“I was so moved, I teared up,” said community member Amy Crews Jacobsen as she listened to the poets reveal deeper feelings about what they love, as well as about what challenges them about the local community. “It was really beautiful.”
Following is a list of the winners and their poems:
- Mayari McQueen, first grade, “Low Tide”
- Andrew Vincent Lau, fourth grade, “My Friendly Community”
- Oliver Juracz, ninth grade, “Tapestry of Life”
- Zicheng Zeng, ninth grade, “We Share”
- Kyla Deppong, 10th grade, “Flowers”
- Adina Licht, “Chosen Family”
- Marilyn L. Lauer, “Rooted”
“The winning poems and every single poem entered into the contest will be published in a book,” said Jennifer Dunbar, recreation coordinator at Scotts Valley’s Parks and Recreation Department, who worked on the contest with the Scotts Valley Arts Commission. “That book will be available to purchase in print on Amazon and an electronic version of the book will be available for free.”
