SENGEBAU POETRY COMPETITION
About Valentine N. Sengebau — The late Valentine Sengebau spent the last twenty-five years of his life in his adopted home of Saipan. The Palauan poet composed dozens of poems that were published in the Micronesian Reporter and the Marianas Variety. Sengebau’s poetry expressed the joys and sorrows of his life, his concerns regarding loss of cultural identity in the islands, as well as the political negotiations between the United States and Micronesia. To ensure that his work is enjoyed by future generations, the Northern Marianas Humanities Council published an anthology of Sengebau’s poetry, Microchild, in 2004. The annual Valentine Sengebau Poetry Competition was established to support the work of young Micronesian poets and to honor Sengebau’s legacy as one of Micronesia’s foremost poets.
About the competition — Held every October as part of Humanities Month celebrations, the Valentine N. Sengebau Poetry competition is open to junior high school and high school students. Junior high students memorize and recite poems from Sengebau’s posthumous poetry anthology titled Microchild. High school students create original poems which are judged for content prior to performance. Winning scores in the high school division are a combination of content and performance points.
2022 Junior Division winners
1st Place Yu Rong Jiang, “Searching” (Francisco M. Sablan Middle School, 8th Grade)
2nd Place Gian Antonio, “I Hear the Message” (Hopwood Middle School, 8th Grade)
3rd Place Seano Pangilinan, “Time of Consciousness” (Hopwood Middle School, 8th Grade)
2022 Senior Division winners
1st Place D’anahlei Rodriguez & Juneya Quitano, “Woven Within” (Kagman High School, 12th Grade)
2nd Place Jill Anne Mallari, “Ode to Home” (Mount Carmel School, 12th Grade)
3rd Place Jude Litulumar, “Divided” (Kagman High School, 12th Grade)
Contact Leeani Villagomez at leeani@nmhcouncil.org or (670)235-4785 for more information on the 20th Annual Sengebau Poetry Competition.