The walls of the Unitarian Universalist Society church were lined with anxious teenagers last Friday night, as the group of 10 high school poets sat waiting to take the podium to read their work aloud to friends and family filling the pews.

West Tisbury poet laureate Fan Ogilvie stood first to introduce the young poets and the program that brought them together: a collaboration among Mrs. Ogilvie, the Martha’s Vineyard Cultural Council, Island Voices and Pathways Projects Institutes. “It takes great and good effort from each member to put a project like this together,” she said of the people responsible for designing the Promising Poets program to encourage aspiring poets to share their work with the community. The evening represented the first awards ceremony for the poetry contest.

“You have already discovered the powerful uses of poetry in your lives,” Mrs. Ogilvie told the fledgling group.

Pathways founder Marianne Goldberg spoke next. “We are all so happy about this program,” she said. “I do hope it instantly becomes an Island tradition.”

While poetry is often deeply personal, Ms. Goldberg said an important step in becoming a poet is learning to share your work with the world. Poems are meant to be enjoyed by all. “Project your poem as far out into the world as you have the capacity to imagine, and then bring them back again,” she counseled the young presenters.

And just as poetry can be a powerful form of expression for the poet, Ms. Goldberg said the audience might well be surprised by their own personal reactions. “I encourage each of us to listen to these poems with full attentiveness, open to unexpected delights,” she said.

One by one, the teenagers approached the podium to read their verses aloud. They ranged from fantastic, dreamlike sequences (like the one featuring bikers in bunny suits) to dark and profound: A young woman daydreaming her own death, another trying to reconcile the joys of her childhood in the Bronx with the problems that now plague the neighborhood.

“She was just a floating soul; her life was just a fraction too low,” read the last line of Tonya Seguera’s poem Killer, which placed her among the five recipients of honorable mention in the competition. Each winning student was presented with a copy of a chapbook collection of the chosen works, accompanied by a box of Chilmark Chocolates. The five finalists in the competition were Domonique Aaron, Lily Bick, Jess Dupon, Zen Hughes and Jordan Wallace. Each winner read three selections aloud. Five students received honorable mention, and read a single poem at the event: Ms. Seguera, Joe Aguilar, Annabelle Hackney, Chelsea Phaneuf and Oscar Thompson

Michael West of Island Voices, a group that supports and promotes poetry projects, said program coordinators would continue to nurture the Vineyard’s young talent through programs like Promising Poets. And he encouraged other community members to do the same. “We look forward to raising the awareness in the community to the young talent in our midst,” he said.