Beatrix Maynard Wins Top Prize in 2023 Gaithersburg Book Festival High School Poetry Contest

GAITHERSBURG, MD. – May 24, 2023 – Beatrix Maynard, a sophomore at Annapolis High School and an Edgewater, Md., resident, was awarded first prize in the 2023 Gaithersburg Book Festival poetry contest for high school students for her poem “See the ‘I’ in Windows.”

Second prize went to Silver Spring, Md., resident Lily Scheckner, a sophomore at Montgomery Blair High School, for “Halbjude.” Haille Treadaway, a Brooklyn Park, Md., resident and senior at Annapolis High School, received third prize for “A Dream in the City.” The Fan Favorite was “bleach,” a poem by Harshita Chinta, a sophomore at Poolesville High School who resides in Rockville, Md.

First-, second- and third-place winners were awarded $250, $100 and $50, respectively. The Fan Favorite winner received $25.

Local poet Sara R. Burnett, who judged the contest, announced the top three winners at the Festival on May 20.

Speaking about Maynard’s first-place poem, Burnett said, “I love this poem for its relentless strength in voice and in message as it imagines what it might be like to have storefront windows more accurately portray female bodies. With echoes of Lucille Clifton and Maya Angelou, this poet knows how to follow the sounds to make a powerful music all her own.”

To be eligible for the poetry contest, students had to be enrolled in grades 9-12 at a public or private school, or be in a homeschool program, for the 2022-23 school year. Additionally, entrants had to reside in Maryland, Virginia or the District of Columbia.

About the Gaithersburg Book Festival

The Gaithersburg Book Festival is an annual all-day celebration of books, writers and literary excellence. One of the premier literary events in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, the 2023 Festival took place Saturday, May 20, at Bohrer Park at Summit Hall Farm (506 S. Frederick Ave.) in Gaithersburg, Md. Entering its 15th year, the 2024 Gaithersburg Book Festival will take place Saturday, May 18, 2024. The Gaithersburg Book Festival also hosts author events in Montgomery County, Md., throughout the year to encourage continued appreciation for all things literary. The Gaithersburg Book Festival is sponsored in part by its official bookseller, Politics & Prose, and title sponsor, The Carnegie at Washingtonian Center. For more information please visit www.gaithersburgbookfestival.org, follow us on Twitter @GburgBookFest or like us on Facebook and Instagram.