Andeulazia Hughes-Murdock, a senior from Chantilly, defended her title at the Poetry Slam and junior Lilly Potter of Middleburg, took her third straight championship in the Competitive Readings recently at Foxcroft School's Paul Bergan Poetry Festival.

Senior Meredith Gibson of Waterford, VA, sophomore Natalie Harris (Silver Spring, MD), and freshman Lindsay Woods (Philomont,VA) also earned laurels—literally—for winning their divisions in the Competitive Readings.

Visiting poet Tina Barr, a graduate of Foxcroft, published poet, and renowned teacher, judged the competition after a morning in which she gave a reading and conducted a lively workshop. An open mike hour featuring both sung and spoken word, and readings of original and published poems in eight different languages rounded out the weekend.

Foxcroft's poetry competition dates back to the early days of the 100-year-old school; the festival was re-named after a beloved English teacher upon his retirement in 2007. Visiting poets over the years have included Pulitzer Prize winners Archibald MacLeish and Claudia Emerson, National Haiku champ Joel Dias Porter (aka DJ Renegade), and performance poets Clint Smith, Jason LeVasseur, and Nan Fry.

In the Slam, a dozen brave students bared their souls and provoked the audience with their original poetry. After two rounds judged by their peers, Hughes-Murdock emerged with her second straight Slam title. Senior Jennifer Williams of New Orleans was the runner-up and junior Meredith Dietz of Unionville, PA placed third.

Potter became a three-time competitive reading winner by taking English 301 honors with her moving presentation of "Poppies" by Jennifer Grotz. Gibson captured the English 401 title with "Childhood is the Kingdom Where Nobody Dies" by Edna St. Vincent Millay, while Harris and Woods earned English 201 and 101 laurels, respectively, with "Too Black" (adapted from Malcom X) and "A Good Man Goes to War" (Steven Moffat).

The competitive readings feature three finalists in each grade level who have been chosen by their peers and certified by faculty judges in two previous rounds of competition. Each reads a poem of her choice and the best one, based on poem selection as well as delivery, wins.

Open readings rounded out the weekend Saturday. In a session reflecting the diversity of the Foxcroft community, a score students and teachers read poetry in languages other than English, ranging from French, and Latin to Catalan, and Korean. Faculty sharing original poems and favorite published poems followed, concluding a delightful weekend of rhyme, rhythm and readings.