Monday, March 9, 2015
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Poetry Out Loud competition, a recitation contest offered through partnership between The National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation. The contest strives to help students, “master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and explore their literary heritage”.
The national finals will be held in Lisner Auditorium at The George Washington University in Washington, DC from April 27-29, and will feature the winners of each state-level competition. Finalists will compete for $50,000 in cash rewards and school stipends, including a $20,000 prize to the National Champion.
Poetry Out Loud was first organized in 2005, and since the program’s inception over 2.7 million students have participated. Last year over 365,000 students competed. To compete students are required to learn three poems of varying styles and time-periods from an anthology provided by the competition administrators. Students then compete at the school-level, with the opportunity to advance to the state and national levels.
More information about the contest can be found on Poetry Out Loud’s website.
Pictured: last year's winners, from left to right - 3rd Place Winner Natasha Vargas, 2nd Place Winner Lake Wilburn, and 2014 National Champion Anita Norman
