WHAM Art Center held its second annual competition for the 2024-2025 West Valley youth poet laureate on April 19, and announced the new poet laureate as Bran’nu Brown, a sophomore from Brophy College Preparatory.

Last year’s winner, Nathaniel George was also from Brophy.

The second-place winner is Olivia Hanson from Paradise Honors High School, followed by third-place winner is Emma Martinez from Trivium Preparatory Academy. Honorable mention went to Maisey Donick, of Paradise Honors, and Zoe Hyman, of Trivium.

‘We nearly ran out of chairs as friends and family filled the gallery to hear such talented and courageous students share their poems,” said Maggie Gautier, the literary arts manager at WHAM. “The students were judged by the content of their work as well as their ability to perform the pieces in front of a large group of people.”

The three judges, all experts in their field of literature and poetry, had received the poems prior to the event so they had time to evaluate the work and then finalize their decisions the night of the event as the students performed their work.

“What fresh insights and delight I received from reading each entrants varied observations and heartfelt feelings,” judge Joyce Stoffers said. “I taught university level writing and literature in New York and Oklahoma, and I can honestly say that this selection of poetry was equal in quality, and I would have been proud to have any of these works gracing the pages of the literary journal I edited for 14 years.”

“Poetry has always been an exciting subject to teach because everyone learns from one another,” said judge Nancy Chapin, who’s also an author, actress and educator. “It is such a unique and expressive way of communication to others. Thank you for being brave enough to share your feelings, and please keep making the world a better place by sharing your art.”

“As a K-12 literacy coordinator (for the Dysart Unified School District), I applaud these student and hope that there are more entries next year,” judge Adriel Grieshaber said. “It’s so exciting to see such talent.”

The Literary Arts Program at WHAM holds a monthly Open Mic on the third Friday of every month.