Constellations Literary Contest
There’s something quietly magical about a room full of talented people who, for one afternoon, set aside the weight of academic worries and the sleepless rhythm of deadlines to immerse themselves in the simple yet beautiful act of performing and enjoying poetry. On October 13th, St. Andrews Scots School’s Nogoya Hall became a sanctuary for that kind of magic, as students, teachers, family members, and judges came together for the award ceremony of “Constellation of Stories”, the school’s second edition of the Performative Poetry Fest.
Now in its second year, the competition invited submissions from all schools in the country, across all types of poetry, such as Traditional, Slam, Lyrical, and even Haikus, open to both Junior (ages 11 to 14) and Senior (ages 15 to 18) categories, written both in English and Spanish.
In the Junior category, Benjamin Doval earned a Special Mention in Traditional Poetry for his work “Distant Fires”. Also, Slam Poetry brought Helena Wilson Rae a First Prize for “Solitude”, with Paz Goslino and Sofia Gielczynsky taking Second Prize for “Unique Among the Stars”, and Elena Choi receiving a Special Mention for “The Stars We Carry”. Then, in the lyrical category, Juana Fernandez Gorgolas took First Prize with “The Night We’ll Remember”.
In the Senior category, Valentina Martinelli earned a Special Mention for her heartfelt piece “Supercut”. Lastly, First Prize was awarded to Felicitas Liendo and Juana Gavito, who performed a Slam poem titled “Lost Connection”.
“Lost Connection” is, at its core, a grieving reflection of the loss of intimacy in the age of social media and technology. Liendo and Gavito transition between the language and customs of old romance (such as slow dancing, flowers, and true love) for its modern substitutes (a like or comment, a dry text, and a glowing empty blue screen), lamenting what gets lost in that exchange. Its central image, a love reduced to “a useless brand”, points to the poem’s deeper meaning: that something is lost in translation when connection passes through a screen, not merely delayed, nor low battery, or disguised, but fundamentally changed into a lesser version of what it means to love and connect.
Here is the poem in its entirety:
Lost connection
We traded slow dances for a glowing blue light,
flowers for likes, letters lost in the night
Once waiting out front was a bare minimum score
Now it's bizarre to glance as we pass through the hall.
Face to face, hand in hand
all intimacy was lost to a useless brand.
Star struck lovers, what now is a myth
impossible due to rules that were never agreed.
No risk in a text, no fear in a glance
all the things we never gave a chance.
Love is a mess, it's never perfect
no filter can fix what broke on the surface.
Follow that girl, make that advance
don't fright away from this beautiful dance.
Between the nerves, laughs, and undeniable talent in that room, it's hard not to wonder what next year’s SASS Poetry Competition will bring. If this year was any indication, our sky is only beginning to fill with young stars.
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