Two locals hold new titles in the community as of this month, they are the 2019 Haiku Poet Laureates of San Marcos.
Every April for four years, the library has celebrated National Poetry Month by putting together a month-long Haiku contest that culminates in the naming of two Haiku Laureates and one runner-up. And this year, hundreds of submissions poured in from all corners of the community – from Jo on the Go and Wake the Dead to Showdown and the Price Center.
Participants vied for the title of San Marcos Haiku Laureate by submitting up to three Haikus in collection boxes located at various locations around the city, and on April 30 library staff collected all the boxes of submissions to be judged. After an expert panel of judges sorted, sifted and scrupulously surveyed hundreds of Haiku submissions from all around the community, two expertly-crafted poems emerged as the winners – Adult Haiku Laureate Jerry Whitus and Youth Haiku Laureate Melanie Wright.
