#97-04-05
For Release: 4-09-97
Contact: Peter Bailley

Knox College will present the winners of the 1997 Sixth Annual Knox College- Sandburg Historic Site Association Poetry Contest at 3:30 p.m., Saturday, April 19 at the Carl Sandburg Birthplace, 313 East 3rd Street.

The first place winner is Scott Mielchen, 5th grade, of Gale School; the second place winner is Matthew Johnson, 5th grade, of Gale School, and the third place winner is Alex Miller, of Costa Catholic School.

The winners were selected from grade school and high school applicants. Prizes include cash, gift certificates from the Knox College Bookstore, scholarships to Knox College for Kids and tapes of Sandburg reading his poems.

Entries are judged by a panel of Knox College creative writing faculty and advanced poetry students. The contest is sponsored by the Knox College English Department and the Sandburg Historic Site Association, to honor Carl Sandburg, the Pulitzer Prize winning author born in Galesburg.

The Sandburg Historic Site Association is a non-profit organization affiliated with the Galesburg Historical Society. It sponsors educational and promotional programs to promote awareness of Sandburg, who was born in Galesburg in 1878.

Founded in 1837, Knox is an independent, four-year, liberal arts college, located in Galesburg, Illinois, with 1,100 students from 42 states and 33 nations. Knox's "Old Main," a National Historic Landmark, is the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.