Rhianna Searle, a senior at the George School, has been named the 2023 Bucks County High School Poet of the Year, officials at Bucks County Community College recently announced. Rhianna, who was first runner-up in last year’s contest, rose to the top of more than 120 entries in the 36th annual contest, part of the Bucks County Poet Laureate Program administered by the college.
For the first-place finish, Rhianna won $300 and was honored with a poetry reading on May 13th BCCC’s Newtown Campus. The three poems Rhianna submitted for the contest were entitled “Steady,” “Sugar Snap Peas” and “Springtime Sonnet.”
The judges were Tom Mallouk (the current Bucks County Poet Laureate) and Nicole Steinberg (last year’s BCPL).
In addition to the winner, the judges also named Olivia Cao, a junior Central Bucks High School South, as first runner-up. Second runner-up was senior Eva Houlton from New Hope-Solebury School. Third runner-up was Charlotte Smyth, a junior from Central Bucks High School West.
To learn more about the contest, visit bucks.edu/poets.
PHOTO CAP: Rhianna Searle. Photo by Max Forstein.