Rachael Lang, Whiteaker Middle School eighth-grader, was one of the three winners of the national Call for Poems about Peace and Conflict Resolution contest at Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center to commemorate the 50th anniversary of May 4, 1970.
The three winners were selected by judge Naomi Shihab Nye from more than 600 entries of poems about peace and conflict transformation.
Lang told the Salem Reporter her poem “Consequences” was inspired both by the Kent State massacre and other acts of injustice perpetrated under the guise of the law.
Her contest win comes with a $500 prize. A music student at Kent State will also compose a piece based on her poem, to be performed at an April 21 event at the university.