The Evanston Public Library announced Wednesday the winners of its annual poetry contest, which honors Chicago-area poets of all ages.

Winners of EPL’s 37th annual Jo-Anne Hirshfield Memorial Poetry Awards, will read their winning pieces next month alongside contest judge Allison Funk, a poet and professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Hyman and Pearl Hirshfield established the contest in 1979 through an endowment to the library in memory of their daughter, Jo-Anne Hirshfield.

This year’s contest drew 702 entries.

The adult and high school contests are open to Chicago-area residents, while only middle school and elementary students in Evanston are eligible to participate in their categories. Evanston residents placed first in every category.

In the adult contest, Genevieve Salazar won for her poem “Dear City.” Evanston Township High School student Anna Harvey placed first in the high school category for her piece, “Colombiana,” and middle school entry “Killing Horse” by Maria Rosen from the Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies topped its category. Lincoln Elementary School student Mirai Silva’s poem “Fish” won in the elementary level contest.

Funk, the contest judge whose work has been featured in The Best American Poetry and The Paris Review, recently published her fifth poetry book “Wonder Rooms,” according to the library.

The reading with Funk, during which recipients will receive their awards, will take place at EPL, 1703 Orrington Ave., May 3 at 2 p.m.

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