City's Poetry Contest Winners Announced

The winners of Cupertino’s first poetry contest were announced Monday.

“Thanks to all who entered this first-ever citywide competition. We received over 100 entries. There are many talented and accomplished writers in our community,” wrote Dave Denny in an email. “The judges and I wish to extend hearty congratulations to the winning poets.”

Denny is Cupertino’s first official Poet Laureate. A public awards ceremony honoring the winners will be held at City Hall on Jan. 24 at 7 p.m.

The winning poems will be displayed n the Cupertino Library, and Cupertino Patch will publish some of the entries at a later date.

Following are the winners in each age category, their prize winnings and the title of their poem:

Children (ages 6-12) Judge: Laura Oliver

First Place: $100 to Advait Patil for “Lessons from Nature”

Second Place: $50 to Hope Nguyen for “Nature’s Beauty”

Third Place: $25 to Julie Swei for “Thanksgiving”

Teens (ages 13-17) Judge: Jennifer Swanton Brown

First Place: $100 to Manasa Gogineni for “My Cursive Backbone”

Second Place: $50 to Niveditha Achanta for “September 11, 2001”

Third Place: $25 to Meghana Ravikumar for “Five Senses”

Adult (ages 18 and up) Judge: Sally Ashton

First Place: $100 to Stephanie Pressman for “Quantum Gravity, a Love Story”

Second Place: $50 to Amanda Williamsen for “Seafood”

Third Place: $25 to Jennifer Swanton Brown for “Rural Cemetery”

Editor's note: The attached YouTube video is about Cupertino Poet Laureate Dave Denny produced by Stanford journalism student Anna Li.