ShareThisWestover Student Wins Top Poetry Prize in Statewide IMPAC Contest
Westover junior Felicity Sheehy was awarded the top statewide prize in poetry in Statewide IMPAC Contest.Westover junior Felicity Sheehy was awarded the top statewide prize in poetry May 30 in the 12th annual IMPAC-Connecticut State University System Young Writers competition for her poem, "Evening Conversation."
At the annual awards celebration Sunday at Mark Twain House & Museum, Miss Sheehy was awarded $1,000. She was awarded $500 in April after being named IMPAC poetry winner in New Haven county.
Sheehy's poem will be considered for publication in Connecticut Review, the nationally-renowned literary journal published by the Connecticut State University System (CSUS).
Co-Masters of Ceremonies at Twain House were Rand Richards Cooper, the novelist and travel writer for Bon Appetit; Diane Smith, CPTV host and author; Colin McEnroe, the Hartford Courant columnist and author; and Ravi Shankar, professor and poet-in-residence at Central Connecticut State University. They all serve as judges for the program.
The 16 county state finalists were treated to tours of the Twain House & Museum and a program on Twain.
Performance poet and slam coach Elizabeth Thomas, the Connecticut Review Poet in Residence for the Naugatuck public schools, led a workshop for teachers on how to teach performance poetry.
The program has given more than $176,000 to teenagers since 1998.
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