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A South Carolina student has captured the top honor in Hollins University’s 56^th Annual Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest.

The competition presents scholarships, prizes, and recognition for the best poems submitted by young women in high school. This year, 944 contestants from 650 high schools in 45 states, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and 17 countries in addition to the United States submitted works for consideration.

Luisa Peñaflor, a student at the Fine Arts Center of Greenville, won first place for her work, “This Is Not a Heritage Poem.” She will receive a $350 cash prize; publication in Cargoes, Hollins’ award-winning student literary magazine; ten copies of Cargoes; a renewable scholarship of up to $5,000 provided through the Creative Talent Award in Creative Writing for a total value of $20,000 in scholarship funds over four years (applicable if she enrolls at Hollins); and free tuition and housing for the university’s Hollinsummer creative writing program for rising ninth through 12^th grade students.

Six other students earned second place honors in this year’s contest. Each of them will receive publication in Cargoes; two copies of Cargoes; a renewable scholarship of up to $1,000 provided through the Creative Talent Award in Creative Writing for a total value of $4,000 in scholarship funds over four years (applicable if the students enroll at Hollins); and a $500 scholarship to apply toward the Hollinsummer creative writing program.

The second place winners include:

Emma Rose Gowans: “2 Sides: reclamation & resurrection with my mother”
South Carolina Governors School for Arts and Humanities
Greenville, South Carolina

Hye In Lee: “A Kisaeng’s Sijo”
Bergen County Academies
Hackensack, New Jersey

Uma Menon: “Sonnet for Bilingual Women”
Winter Park High School
Winter Park, Florida
(A second poem by Menon was awarded finalist standing)

Maya Miller: “Two Lefts Then a Right on Orange Grove Boulevard”
Polytechnic School
Pasadena, California
(A second poem by Miller was awarded finalist standing)

Renee Morales: “crumbs, too, are food”
Barbara Goleman High School
Hialeah, Florida

Hannah Grace Wehrung: “Man for Hire, Holmdel, 1964”
Douglas Anderson School for the Arts
Jacksonville, Florida

Nancy Thorp, a member of the class of 1960 at Hollins, was a young poet who showed great promise when she was a student. Following her death in 1962, he family established the Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest to encourage and recognize the work of young poets.