Two Montgomery County students were among those recognized in the 2026 Gaithersburg Book Festival High School Poetry Contest, which challenged participants to explore the theme “What Is Humanity.”
Eve Browne, a freshman at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Potomac, earned third place for her poem, “My Sister’s Dog.” Hargun Malhotra, a sophomore at Poolesville High School and Clarksburg resident, was selected as the contest’s fan favorite for the poem “Kintsugi.”
The winners were announced during the Gaithersburg Book Festival on May 16 by Majda Gama, a local poet and recipient of the Graybeal Gowen Prize for Virginia poets, who served as this year’s contest judge.
“The winners of the Gaithersburg Book Festival High School Poetry Contest each addressed the theme ‘What Is Humanity’ in formally and rhetorically captivating ways,” Gama said. “Spanning the length of deep time and spiritual time, I felt my belief in humanity restored by the poems as they grappled with our shared struggle to achieve an understanding of our place in the universe, and with our mutual responsibilities as stewards of our precious planet.”
The contest’s top prize went to Natalia Coronado-Mercer, a junior at Appomattox Regional Governor’s School in Richmond, Virginia, for her poem “Sapien.” Rachel Hanauer, a sophomore at Annapolis High School, received second place for “David’s Secret Chord.”
First-, second-, and third-place winners received cash prizes of $250, $100, and $50, respectively. The fan favorite winner received $25. The annual contest is open to students in grades 9-12 who reside in Maryland, Virginia, or the District of Columbia and are enrolled in public school, private school, or homeschool programs during the school year.
