Trinity Prep poet named winner in Central Florida-wide contest

One writer from Trinity Preparatory School is set to become a published poet — her work on display for the world to see.

Senior Anna Voicu recently was named a winner in the Page 15 Annual High School Writing Contest and will have her poem “Drift” published in an illustrated anthology of student writing called “The Truth Is …” in April.

After being chosen as one of 15 winners in the Central Florida area out of 150 students who submitted work, Voicu and the other finalists were invited to see “Hamilton” last month at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. They also met for breakfast at Burrow Press, the local publishing house that releases the annual anthology.

It was an incredible experience and an honor to be chosen, Voicu said.

“I was really excited, because I didn’t really know you could win contests like this with writing,” she said. “It was exciting for me, definitely.”

“It was so unexpected.”

Page 15 is a program of the Urban Think Foundation, a local nonprofit dedicated to enriching Central Florida’s cultural landscape. Its annual writing contest reaches out to high-school teachers throughout the area in search of work by students to feature in the anthology published in partnership with Burrow Press. 

The Trinity Prep Saint’s poem “Drift” — written in November 2018 for a class assignment — describes a mundane town and how a catastrophic event shapes it. 

It’s one of many poems Voicu has written — something she’s always loved to do in her spare time.

“As a child, I would write little stories, and in high school I started liking writing more through English classes and stuff,” Voicu said. “I started taking writing workshop — which is a specific creative writing class — in my junior year, and then I’ve taken it every semester since then.”

She said she specifically is drawn to poetry.

“Every word matters more — it has a greater meaning than in prose,” Voicu said. “It’s definitely relaxing. I do it in my free time — not just for assignments for school.”

Trinity Prep English teacher Melanie Farmer teaches Voicu’s writing workshop class and said she couldn’t be more proud of her student getting published.

“It was cool, because I know that Anna is really talented, and I sometimes feel like especially high-school creative writing is a very quiet, solitary thing — it’s not like being on the soccer team where you see people going around saying, ‘I’m a writer,’” Farmer said. “I think it’s cool that she not only won stuff but also got the chance to be published.”

Voicu said she may not pursue writing as a career but will always enjoy the creative process of writing as a hobby.

“I’d definitely like to pursue it in the future — not as a major, but I definitely want to continue it,” she said.