UNH Dimond Library
 

Robert Frost Youth Poet Program Announced

UNH co-sponsors annual statewide contest

 By Erika Mantz
UNH News Bureau
603-862-1460

June 20, 2001

DURHAM, N.H. -- Addie Moreno, a fourth grader at the Strafford School, has been named the 2001 Robert Frost Youth Poet for the state of New Hampshire.

Moreno's poem titled "Child's Song of Tragedy" was her interpretation of this year's theme "100 Years Ago":

Times Past
When waters surround me,
Begging me, watching me, catching me.
Winds catch my hair.
Misty smells of earth fill my nose.

Times past
When dirt roads come alive, with clatter of hooves.
Buggies rushing and splatters of mud catch the wheels.
Screams of rage and fearsome growls,
Made from both wind and sea.

Times Past
When I've made solemn vows, never be found on the docks.
My heart carries me farther from land,
Until murkyness of water steals my feet. Tides fill my soul with promises of return.

Future Times
When I will be found,
For my past lies on the shore of New Castle.
My body clings to powdery sand, where my heart and soul
Will only be found. Then will my secrets be revealed.

Moreno's poem was selected from approximately 1,000 entries in the annual contest sponsored by Dimond Library at the University of New Hampshire, the Trustees of the Robert Frost Homestead, and the state Department of Parks and Recreation. The Finisterre Fund provides funding for the program and members of the Poetry Society of New Hampshire judge the entries. In addition to the statewide winner, a youth poet is chosen for each of the state's counties, and runners-up are also selected. All winners will be honored Saturday, June 23, at noon at the Robert Frost Farm in Derry and the poems will be preserved in a permanent archive in UNH's Dimond Library. Following is a list of winners from each county:

Belknap County: Matthew Farah, Belknap

Carroll County: Alacia Farrell, Center Ossipee
Honorable Mention: Robbie Gallagher, Center Tuftonboro

Cheshire County: Stephen Whippie, Chesterfield
Honorable Mention: Jessica Alvarez, Chesterfield

Coos County: Correy Decosteaux, Dalton
Honorable Mention: Allison McGahie, Lancaster

Grafton County: Lily Kendall, Plymouth
Honorable Mention: Olivia Cushing, Franconia

Hillsborough County: Megan Wolfe, Hudson
Honorable Mention: Melissa Pinsonneault, Hudson

Merrimack County: Jessica Dooillette, Concord
Honorable Mention: Heidi Schmitt, Concord

Rockingham County: Joshua Jones, Salem
Honorable Mention: William Farrell, Northwood

Strafford County: Caitlin Bowen, Dover
Honorable Mention: Shelby Kaubris, Dover

Sullivan County: Hilary Lynd, Meriden
Honorable Mention: Kelsey Hardy, Meriden


Back to UNH News Bureau