Meet the winners of the 2022 Tom Lee Poetry Contest
The three winners of the inaugural Tom Lee Poetry and Spoken Word Contest are:
- Aayush Jain (White Station High School) — Remember
- Tamarrio Anderson (Memphis Business Academy) — God Wins
- Logan Parson (Germantown High School) — Distraught Minds
The contest encouraged students to submit work inspired by the courage and selflessness of Memphis hero Tom Lee. The winners were selected by a panel of judges led by award-winning poet and professor at the University of Memphis, Marcus Wicker. Today, the three winners were honored for their accomplishments in the Partnership’s annual Tom Lee Day celebration.
Aayush’s first place poem, Remember, was praised by Professor Wicker for “command[ing] readers to fathom the remarkable courage required of ordinary citizens to exercise hope during Kashmir’s unrest ... and reminding [him] that beauty and care are honest to goodness balms against collective grief.” Read the exceptional winning piece here.
The White Station High School senior is an emerging artist and writer, whose work has been exhibited at the Memphis International Airport and Brooks Museum of Art. When Aayush is not creating or reading, he enjoys solving logic puzzles and scrolling through property listings on Zillow.
Tamarrio Anderson, a Senior Executive at Memphis Business Academy High School, earned the second place prize with his part anti-violence anthem, part 32-bar protest poem, God Wins. Professor Wicker “plans to keep this song, this dexterous poem, in the heaviest of rotations.” In Tamarrio’s own words, this song shows how Tom Lee used faith and dedication to heroically save lives of people of a different race. Listen to the masterful song here.
Tamarrio is an inspirational artist who has recorded and performed songs on being positive, the Bible, excellence, and education. He enjoys eating salmon, playing basketball, hanging out with family, and exercising.
Logan Parson, a senior at Germantown High School, won third place with her spoken word piece, Distraught Minds, that Professor Wicker notes “engages contemporary issues and thought itself with impressive word play, circular movement, and a litany of unanswerable questions.” Read the thought-provoking piece here.
Logan’s passion for writing has led her to attend the University of Tennessee in the fall, to expand her writing capabilities and pursue a career in the field.
Congratulations to the winners of the Tom Lee Poetry and Spoken Word Contest, and thank you to their teachers, Ms. Monique Fisher, Ms. Sceva Rhinehardt and Mr. Leonid Mazor, for encouraging their students to write such powerful words, guided by the virtues and the story of Tom Lee.
The Tom Lee Poetry and Spoken Word Contest is made possible by the generous support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
