Frankfort First Grader Wins Poetry Competition

FRANKFORT, IL — A Frankfort first grader has been named a winner of the 10th annual Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards, hosted by Illinois Humanities in partnership with Brooks Permissions, the Poetry Foundation, and the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts.

Louise McDonald, a student at Grand Prairie Elementary in Frankfort, was one of 39 Illinois students honored in the awards, which is an annual competition celebration Illinois poets in grades K-12, according to a news release.

The 2026 class includes 26 young poets and 13 honorable mentions, representing communities across Illinois, including Chicago, Peoria, Oswego, Skokie, Aurora, Collinsville, Colfax, Frankfort, Libertyville, Mt. Zion, Naperville, Palatine, Lincolnshire and Burr Ridge.

This year's winners were selected from 1,063 submissions from 186 schools, according to Ilinois Humanities. This year was the largest submission class since the program was revived in 2017.

This year’s winning poems explore themes of family, identity, heritage, belonging, place, and the natural world, reflecting deeply personal experiences and offering insight into how this generation is engaging with the world around them, a news release states.

“Gwendolyn Brooks understood that young people have something important to say, and that adults have a responsibility to listen,” said Gabrielle H. Lyon, Executive Director of Illinois Humanities. “Ten years after Illinois Humanities revived these awards, young poets continue to surprise us, challenge us, and remind us what is possible when we give young people the space to find and share their voices. We are incredibly proud to celebrate this year’s poets and carry the Brooks’s legacy forward.”

The Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards competition runs annually from January to May and is open to all Illinois students in grades K-12, a news release shares. Winners receive a monetary prize, publication in an annual chapbook, and the opportunity to share their work during the annual awards ceremony.

Louise will read her poem at an award celebration on Sept. 19 in Chicago.