Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site hosted its annual Carl Sandburg Poetry Contest Reception on April 3, 2009. This year's theme was Abraham Lincoln in honor of Lincoln's 200th Birthday and Carl Sandburg's Pulitzer Prize winning biography of Lincoln. Poets from the North Carolina Poetry Society judged over 140 poetry submissions from Elementary, Middle School and High School students in western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina. Students were awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each grade level and were invited to read their poems at this reception. A special award was also given for poems favored by visitors to Carl Sandburg Home NHS who voted on the poems while on display at the park. The People's Choice Award recipient from each grade level also read their poem.
This contest is held each year to celebrate Carl Sandburg's achievements in writing and to inspire and encourage young poets to similarly express their own ideas through poetry. The poems will remain on display at the park through April, National Poetry Month. The following poems were recognized:
