Richard Benvenuto High School Poetry Competition

 

Each year, the RCAH Center for Poetry holds the Richard Benvenuto High School Poetry Competition, with prize donated by Barry Gross in memory of his dear classmate, colleague, and friend Richard Benvenuto.

 

About Richard Benvenuto: 

Richard Ercole Benvenuto taught in the English Department at Michigan State University for 20 years. From his office in Morrill Hall he conducted grad student seminars and advised students on the best paths for their lives. He loved teaching and was a published scholar of Victorian Literature. At the time of his death, Indiana University dedicated an issue of Victorian Studies in his honor. He published two biographies, one on Emily Bronte and the other on Amy Lowell. His next book would have been on Oscar Wilde. As a young grad student he was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, which he used to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing at Hollins College, Virginia. At Hollins College, he worked under William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies. Richard played music and wrote poetry throughout his life. He was married for 27 years to his wife, Joyce, and has three children and four grandchildren. 

 

 

 

Announcing our 2022 Winners

Congratulations to the 2022 winners!

 

On March 15, 2023 we held a reading and reception to celebrate these talented high school students at a Winners' Reading. Event information available here.

 

View photos of the winners' reading here.

 

2022 Richard Benvenuto Poetry Prize

 

1st Prize (Tie)  "after rewatching jennifer's body for the third time in the last week"

                        Kaydance Rice, Junior, Interlochen Arts Academy

                        Sponsoring teacher: Brittany Cavallaro

 

1st Prize (Tie)  "Freezerbird"

                        Kiri Tuck, Junior, Rockford Public High School

                        Sponsoring teacher: Rachel Sonnenberg

 

2nd Prize         "Voice Theory"

                        Emily Pickering, Junior, Interlochen Arts Academy

                        Sponsoring teacher: Brittany Cavallaro

 

 

3rd Prize         "Poem in Lieu of a Funeral"

                        Sophie Bernik, Junior, Interlochen Arts Academy

                        Sponsoring teacher: Brittany Cavallaro

                        

Honorable      "epistolary entomology"

Mention          Sumner Erickson, Sophomore, Interlochen Arts Academy

                        Sponsoring teacher: Brittany Cavallaro

                       

Honorable      "Mother Moon"

Mention          Lexie Frontjes, Senior, Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy

                        Sponsoring teacher: Jared Morningstar

 

Honorable      "Another Elegy"

Mention          Ray Zhang, Senior, Troy High School

                        Sponosoring teacher: Ms. Liamini

 

View a PDF of the winning Richard Benvenuto Poetry Prize entries here.