SILVER SPRING, MD — A Silver Spring high school student has been named a finalist in the Gaithersburg Book Festival high school poetry competition. First, second and third place winners will be announced on the Festival website on Friday, May 13.
Anastasia Matveev, a senior from Montgomery Blair High School, is a finalist in the contest.
“It is an honor to be able to read these beautiful poems and it will be very difficult to choose just three,” 2022 judge Gregory Luce said in a statement. “The DMV can be proud to be an incubator for the next generation of poets.”
There will be a fan favorite vote that will be open until May 13 at 11 p.m. Fan vote winners will be announced at the festival on May 21 at Bohrer Park.
“Once again, I am blown away by the talented young writers and poets in our region,” Jud Ashman, Festival Founder and Mayor of the City of Gaithersburg said in the statement. “They took the themes of freedom, community and escape, and created phenomenal poetry. We are so proud to spotlight all of these budding artists at the Gaithersburg Book Festival.”
Here is the full list of high school poetry contest finalists:
● Lucy Collins – Archbishop Spalding High School (Columbia, MD; Grade 11)
● Clara Goldberg – Winston Churchill High School (Potomac, MD; Grade 12)
● Mischa Green – Annapolis High School (Glen Burnie, MD; Grade 11)
● Naomi Kaul – Northwest High School (Germantown, MD; 12th grade)
● Joy Kim – Oakton High School (Oakton, Virginia; Grade 11)
● Anastasia Matveev – Montgomery Blair High School (Silver Spring, MD; Grade 12)
● Lilly Rogers – The Bryn Mawr School (Baltimore, MD; 9th grade)
● Sarah Siskind – Annapolis High School (Annapolis, MD; Grade 12)
● Eugene Tibbs – Landon School (Arlington, VA; 11th grade)
● Sophia Toth-Fejel – Archbishop Spalding High School (Millersville, MD; Grade 11)
● Jasmin Wu – Walter Johnson High School (Bethesda, MD; 10th grade)
● Allison Xu – Walter Johnson High School (Rockville, MD; 10th grade)
The Gaithersburg Book Festival is back in person after two years of virtual events. It brings authors to “foster interest in reading, writing and literary conversation” in Gaithersburg, according to the festival’s website.
