By JOHN Y. COLE
The Center for the Book, in cooperation with the non-profit organization River of Words, is asking for submissions to the 2006-2007 environmental art and poetry contest for young people in grades K-12. The "River of Words" contest is designed to promote literacy, the arts and environmental awareness.
For the past decade, the Center for the Book has co-sponsored the annual competition with River of Words. In April 2006, former Poet Laureate Robert Hass (1995-1997), co-founder of the organization, returned to the Library to host this year's national awards ceremony. At this event, which may be viewed on the Library's Web site (www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=38850), he encouraged the winning young poets to read their poems and the young artists to talk about their work.
"Our goal is to help children fall in love with the Earth," said Hass.
In the past decade, the contest has done just that—touching the lives of tens of thousands of children who have participated in the program. Submissions come from around the world, in English and in Spanish, and in American Sign Language (submitted on videotape).
The contest is open to any child in the world, ages 5 through 19. Students may enter on their own or as part of a group. About 100 poems and artworks from national and international students are selected as finalists each year. In addition to the international prize in either art or poetry, eight grand prize winners are chosen from the U.S. entries (four in poetry and four in art, in four age categories), and a special prize is awarded for a haiku poem.
A River of Words Teacher of the Year is honored at the annual awards ceremony. In her acceptance speech, the 2006 Teacher of the Year, Connie McDonald of the Louisiana State Lab School in Baton Rouge, said, "In Louisiana right now, we have to look extra hard to find the poetry because there is so much destruction from the recent hurricanes. … In the midst of all the chaos, there are signs of hope and renewal. Folks are hearing birds again."
The deadlines for the 2006-2007 contest are Feb. 15, 2007 (U.S), and March 1, 2007 (international). For further details and a complete list of current and past winners and finalists, visit www.riverofwords.org.
From its office in Berkeley, Calif., River of Words offers a wide range of educational opportunities for teachers and students, as well as local partnership and community outreach programs, publications and exhibitions. The organization also trains teachers, park rangers and youth leaders to incorporate nature exploration and the arts into their work with children.
River of Words operates the Young Art Gallery in Berkeley, one of the few art galleries in the world devoted to children's art. The organization also creates curriculum guides and related educational materials and administers a publishing program. Recent publications include "River of Words: The Natural World as Viewed by Young People" (individual volumes of collected poetry from the past eight contests) and "River of Words: Images and Poetry in Praise of Water" (Heyday Books, 2003), which is edited by the organization's co-founder, Pamela Michael, with essays by Robert Hass, who judges the poetry contest, and illustrator and writer Thacher Hurd, who selects the art winners. River of Words also recently published "This Odyssey: Poetic Quests of a Teenage Girl," a collection of poems by Jane Jiang of Seattle, a 2002 Grand Prize winner in the grades 7-9 category, and a 2000 finalist for grades 3-6. She demonstrated her commitment to the environment by donating the proceeds of her book to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
Orders for River of Words publications may be placed at www.riverofwords.org/store/.
John Y. Cole is director of the Center for the Book.
River of Words 2006 Winners
- International Award (Art): Leung Man Wai, 11, Hong Kong, China
- Poetry Grand Prizes: Avery Forsythe, 8, Crested Butte, Colo.; Devin Felter, 12, New Windsor, N.Y.; Audrey Larkin, 12, San Francisco, Calif; Diana Chien, 17, Holmdel, N.J.
- Art Grand Prizes: Keeley Christiansen, 6, Watsonville, Calif.; Kieran McElvaney, 9, Marietta, Ga.; You Na Park, 15, Lorton, Va.; John Dixon, 17, Hollister, Calif.
- Monkey's Raincoat Haiku Prize: Clay McMullen, 11, Chesterfield, Ohio
- Teacher of the Year: Connie McDonald, Louisiana State Lab School in Baton Rouge
2006 International Grand Prize Winner (Art)
Boat of Hong Kong
Leung Man Wai, age 11
School of Creativity
Hong Kong
2006 Grand Prize Winner, Category I (K-2)
I Love My Dog
The summer sun danced off the water
While I played in the S-shaped bend
In the East River.
I stomped in the water
With my puddle boots
And watched my dog Taylor flop down
Like a child flops down on her bed
She looked like a lump of angel rock
Protecting me as I
Plomped,
Plomped,
Plomped
In the shallow edge
Of the river.
I was always the happiest
Kid in the world
Playing with my dog
In the sun
At the S-shaped bend
In the East River.
Avery Forsythe, age 8
Slate River School
Crested Butte, Colorado
2006 Grand Prize Winner, Category IV (10-12)
Fire in Winter
The hoof-prints of the deer
in the snow are broken hearts,
bowed raindrops,
birds' eyes painted with a bamboo brush.
The rough-furred,
coal-tipped legs mince:
matchstick pistons, they
strike sparks from iced boulders,
strike a wintery rhythm to the tick and whisper of
the creeping hoarfrost,
the pliant ice sheathing
river stones' flanks.
The scent of resin and musk is in those wide nostrils,
the leaf-shaped ears flick
to catch a memory of soft rain in summer greenery.
Now—a pine bough splits in the distance,
graced with snow's heavy embrace:
There is the sound of my heart.
There is the sound of explosion
as the deer bounds up and out,
heels kicking a spray of diamond-
colored fire.
Diana Chien, age 17
Holmdel High School
Holmdel, New Jersey
2006 Monkey's Raincoat Haiku Prize
Lucky
Osprey swoops downward
Brook trout leaps skyward, airborne
lucky day, for one
Clay McMullen, age 11
West Geauga Middle School
Chesterland, Ohio