Winners announced in Magnolia Gardens poetry contest

CHARLESTON, SC – Two Summerville residents won the top prizes in Magnolia Plantation and Gardens’ poetry contest, “Sharing the Romance.”

In the adult competition, Pam Stuart won $500 for her poem “O! Magnolia.” In the youth competition, Rachael Laemers, a 15-year-old student at Summerville High School, won an iPad for her poem, “The Garden of Love.”

Judges selected poems that best emulate the sensibility of romantic poets and described Magnolia as an idyllic “garden of romance.” Magnolia is America’s last large-scale romantic-style garden.

Nearly 200 poems were submitted from poets across the country. The winning
poems are posted on Magnolia’s website.

When Tom Johnson, Magnolia’s executive director, guides visitors through the gardens, he emphasizes the romantic style of gardening sets Magnolia apart from other gardens. “Unlike most of America’s gardens, which are formal and seek to control nature, Magnolia cooperates with nature to create a tranquil landscape like Eden where humanity and nature are in harmony,” Johnson said.

Other winners in the adult competition, their poems and prizes are:

• Susan Laughter Meyers, Summerville, “Morning Meditation,” second place, $300
•  Warren Slesinger, Beaufort, “White Blossoms,” third place, $200
•  Frances J. Pearce, Mount Pleasant, “Magnolia-on-the-Ashley,” honorable mention, $50
•  Liz Rose Dolan, Rehoboth Beach, Del., “Even If It Rains, I Will Wait in the Garden,” honorable mention, $50
• Davi Walders, Chevy Chase, Md., “May Light,” honorable mention, $50

Youth division winners are:

• Danielle Drew, Goose Creek, “The Garden of Love,” second place, $200
•  Selena Halabi, Ladson, “The Garden and I,” third place, $100
• Morgan Venters, Summerville, “A Walk at Magnolia,” by honorable mention, annual membership
•  Sarah Anne Welsh, Summerville, “The Garden,” honorable mention, annual membership
• Erin J. Littlejohn, Mount Pleasant, “In this Garden,” honorable mention, annual membership

Marjory Wentworth, South Carolina poet laureate, and Dr. Jacquelyn Markham, an award-winning poet, judged the poems in the adult division. Entries in the youth division were judged by Donna Adams, reference and young adult librarian, Otranto Road Regional Library in North Charleston, and Willette Wilkins, creative writing teacher, North Charleston Cultural Arts Department.