2018 Vázquez-Valarezo Poetry Award winners

Caitlyn Lecour, a sophomore from Manhattan, Ill., was the winner of this year's Vázquez-Valarezo Poetry Award. 

The 2018 competition is the 20th year, and this year's awards went to the best student submissions on the theme “Time's Up.”

Lecour, a neuroscience and philosophy major, submitted work entitled "The Beauty of Brown."

Other winners were:

Madeleine Jacobson, second place for "The Map of Freedom." She is a first-year student from Stockholm, Sweden.

Anthony Santangelo, second place for “I dedicate this to my best friend." He is a senior from Brandon, Miss., majoring in engineering physics, mathematics and philosophy.

Lalini Shanela Ranaraja, third place for "Freedom"  and honorable mention for "Saying the Words." She is a first-year student from Sri Lanka, majoring in anthropology.

Judges were Dr. Umme Al-Wazedi and Dr. Jennifer Popple.

The award is sponsored by Dr. Jeanneth Vázquez, professor of Spanish. In addition to recognizing excellence, the award is designed to encourage student poets to submit their work for consideration.

The award is named in honor of Dr. Vázquez's parents, the late Honorato Vazquez and the late Angelica Valarezo, writers who worked in the field of education in Ecuador for 35 years.

Winners are chosen by a panel of Augustana professors. Some of the winning poems are available on Augustana's Digital Commons.