Last week poet Dawn Kawahara judged a ‘six-word memoir’ contest held for seventh-grade students. Middle school language arts teachers Kahele Keawe and Sarah Iha from Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School screened and sent their best entries, working in tandem with Lihu‘e
Last week poet Dawn Kawahara judged a ‘six-word memoir’ contest held for seventh-grade students. Middle school language arts teachers Kahele Keawe and Sarah Iha from Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School screened and sent their best entries, working in tandem with Lihu‘e regional young adult librarian Sierra Hampton-Eng.
All student entries were read blind (unidentified by name). Kawahara chose from the student submissions as follows: A first prize entry that will also receive the “Best of Show” award; two second and two third prize entries; one each of a “Most Mysterious,” “Most Dramatic,” “Most Unique,” and “Most Humorous” entry; and two “Life Story” awards.
The award winners were contacted Dec. 15. Prizes awarded were a certificate, a Borders Books gift card and book prizes provided by the Friends of Lihu‘e Library.
There is also a People’s Choice award. Hampton-Eng posted all the entries on the “Teen Turf” Bulletin board and invited people to vote for their favorite entry. Selected entries are on display at the Lihu‘e Library.
In deciding her choices of the winners and prize awards, Kawahara said she drew on her knowledge of writing in the memoir form, and then pared that down drastically.
“Writing a memoir in six words is a true challenge, but these students did well, knowing they had to leave more unsaid than said and draw us into the back story,” Kawahara said. “My experience in writing poems helped me in the selection process because in poetry, the idea of ‘less is more’ guides every chosen word counts.”
First prize and best of show went to Hanale Reynolds-Kare and reads as follows: “Fought with Bully, and won.”
There were two second prize winners: Zach Lewis with, “My first goal … at the buzzer,” and Sarah Luczon’s, “Didn’t mean it … thought she knew.”
Kawahara is the author of the award-winning “Jackals’ Wedding, A Memoir of a Childhood in British India” and “Behold Kaua‘i, Modern Days Ancient Ways,” original poem-chants with historical and cultural information. She recently conducted an autumn “Colors” poetry-writing workshop with the Columbine Poets of Colorado of the greater Denver area and also with third-graders of Sheridan Green Elementary School in Westminster, Colorado.
