2026 Annual Brooks Poetry Prize Competition

Each spring, a number of beloved traditions mark the approach of the end of the school year at Winsor. This week brought to the assembly stage a favorite: the Brooks Poetry Prize competition. During all-school assembly in the David E. and Stacey L. Goel Theater, students from Class IV and Class V stepped onto the stage to share poems that resonated deeply with them, offering the community an opportunity to pause and experience the power of poetry together.

“The Brooks Poetry Prize competition encourages students to read poetry and to practice public speaking,” said English Department Head Courtney Jackson as she introduced the event, “and it gives us all a chance to listen to some poetry together as a community.”

The competition, a Winsor tradition dating back to 1909, invites every Class IV and Class V student to select and recite a poem during preliminary rounds held in English classes. The guidelines encourage students to “look for a poem to which you genuinely respond.” One student from each class section is then selected to advance to the final round and present at assembly. Readers are judged on their degree of thorough understanding, clear articulation, and expression.

As in recent years, the Class V finalists also shared reflections on why they chose their poems, adding another layer of insight and vulnerability to the program. Together, the selected works demonstrated poetry’s unique ability to illuminate both personal experience and shared humanity.

The 2026 judges of the Brooks Poetry Prize competition are English Faculty Ned Henningsen and Laura Krier. The Class IV and Class V winners will be announced during the annual Awards Celebration in June.

The 2026 finalists included:

Class IV
JonEva Balogun ’30: “A Woman Speaks” by Audre Lorde
Kaiya Goud ’30: “Something” by Andrea Cohen
Grace McDonnell ’30: “Good Bones” by Maggie Smith
Sophie Wang ’30: “A Dream Within a Dream” by Edgar Allan Poe

Class V
Helina Adugna ’29: “Daughter” by Danusha Laméris
Annie Fitzpatrick ’29: “Sisters” by P. K. Page
Helena Lee ’29: “The Vulture & the Body” by Ada Limón
Amelia Rudy ’29: “Who’s That” by Ana Bozicevic
Grace Whitworth-Neufeld ’29: “War Machines Dress Up As Drag Queens” by Mohammed El-Kurd

The Brooks Poetry Prize competition was established by Clara G. Brooks—a “great friend” of Miss Winsor’s. Brooks funded the reading and writing prizes in 1913. Additionally, her daughter and granddaughters later attended Winsor, including Rachel Brooks Jackson ’02, Madeline Jackson Emery ’35, and Clara Jackson Murfey ’39.