2021 Pongo Poetry Prize

Well-Versed: Pongo Poets Online is our online poetry submission program, through which, we make poetry writing activities available for free and invite youth authors to share their pieces with us. For the past decade, Pongo has been proud to present the Pongo Poetry Prize, awarded on an annual basis for poetry submitted through this program.

Below is the 2021 prize winning poem, alongside an honorable mention for the year. Each poem is an accompanied by an author statement, offering more context on the piece and the writer’s perspective on Pongo. All of us are extremely grateful for the honesty and insight of all the young people – including those featured below – that shared their heartfelt writing with us last year. Take a moment to read through their pieces and join us in celebrating the talent and creativity of these youth poets!