CCC Announces Winners of Making History Come Alive Through Words Poetry Contest 

2022 EXPLORE Poetry Contest for High School Students

In celebration of its 10th Anniversary, the Chicago Collections Consortium, in partnership with the Poetry Foundation and the Chicago Public Library Harold Washington Library Center, launched an annual poetry contest for high school students in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.

The poetry contest invited students to browse EXPLORE CHICAGO COLLECTIONS, a vast portal of archives and images from member collections, and write a poem inspired by what they find. 

With submissions from over 23 Chicagoland high schools, CCC is proud to recognize the following students for their outstanding poems:

Abigail Chaidez, Lemont High School

Roger Dababneh, Niles North High School

Vixen Raviolo, Cary-Grove High School

Brian Rivera, George Westinghouse College Prep

William Zhang, University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

Honorable Mention - Lukasz Cader, William H. Taft High School

A complete listing of the poems can be found HERE.

Chicago Collections is grateful for the anniversary funding from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation and an anonymous donor.