North Carolina high school first-place winner Gina Atkins of Providence High School, Charlotte.

Gina Atkins (left) from Providence High School in Charlotte NC received first place among all high school students in North Carolina, who submitted their poetry for the competition judged by North Carolina Poet Laureate Joseph Bathanti (right). 

Tryon’s Lee Stockdale, left, an attorney and poet, and one of the organizers of Saturday’s Lanier Library Poetry Festival, is shown with poet Cathy Smith Bowers, at the event. Smith Bowers held one of the event’s many workshops: “The Abiding Image: An Invitation to Poetry,” and read from her works.

Saturday’s Lanier Library Poetry Festival included among its guests, Cleveland-based poet George Bilgere, who recited some his work, and also led a workshop, “Writing Your Way Into the Poem,” held at the nearby Melrose Inn. Bilgere has appeared on “A Prairie Home Companion,” where he has recited his work.