Project Poet - Season Finale

What is it that matters?

In week five of Project Poet, the season finale, the five poets who made it to the final round were given a challenge that sounded so simple, and yet was really so complex: Write three poems about things that matter. In the end, Will Holified's poems earned him the top prize of $750 as well as the coveted title of Poet Laureate of the Spadra Valley. Read Will's poem.

The final results in this season's Project Poet were:

• Fifth Prize ($100) - Jacqueline Jurcik
• Fourth Prize ($150) - Stephen Kennedy
• Third Prize ($250) - Nathan Miller
• Second Prize ($500) - Rikki Runyan
• First Prize ($750) - Will Holifield

The competition this year drew in record crowds for almost every episode, and could not have taken place without those who gave their time, talent, and resources. As Dr. Strain said in announcing the winning poet:

Heart-felt thanks to all who participated in season seven: to the seventeen students who took the risk of entering; to Rick and Sherée Niece, who not only donated the rewards for all that risk-taking but who were also there for each risk taken; to Brian Hardman, who made sure each episode came off smoothly (no small feat) and who entertained us so gracefully each night; to all our colleagues who judged the five challenges; to Debbie Eldridge, who gathered and prepared the poems for the judges (and who often gently reminded the poets that she, well, needed their poems PDQ); and, finally, to everyone who came, whether for the poetry, the music, the community, or all of the above.

So we come again to the end. But let's all look forward to next year, when a new group of brave poets will step up to the challenge and give us another great season of Ozarks' own poetry competition, Project Poet!