2026 Annual Youth Poetry Contest

We are thrilled to announce the winners of the Junior League of Washington’s 27th Annual Youth Poetry Contest. This year’s contest theme was Imagine, as we encouraged student’s creativity and literary skills to shine during this contest. We received almost 300 poems from 27 schools.

This year’s winners hailed from Alice Deal Middle School, Barnard Elementary School, Brent Elementary School, Burroughs Elementary School, Center City PCS (Brightwood), Charles Hart Middle School, Eliot-Hine Middle School, Janney Elementary School Oyster Adams Bilingual School, St. Francis Xavier Catholic Academy, and Thomson Elementary School.

Our students were honored in an Awards Ceremony on May 16, 2026, from 12-1 PM EST at the Planet Word Museum.

We look forward to continuing this tradition and announcing the 28th Annual Youth Poetry Contest in fall 2026. Questions about the contest can be directed to poetrycontest@jlw.org.