The Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest - U. S. Style

The prominent Irish organization, Poetry Ireland, has been sponsoring a Poetry Aloud competition in its nation's public schools for some time. It was through this Irish version that I first became aware of the concept of such a competition and agreed it was a wonderful idea. I was not aware that the U.S. also had a similar contest- until today.

The U. S. version of this competition is the older one. Poetry Ireland is celebrating its 3rd Poetry Aloud Competition in the 2008/2009 school year. The U.S. Poetry Out Loud Contest first began in Chicago and Washington, DC area schools as an experiment in 2005. It is sponsored by The Poetry Foundation along with The National Endowment for the Arts in recognition of the resurgent popularity of poetry as an oral form as evidenced by the popularity of hip-hop and rap styles and the unstoppableness of Slam culture and its poetry movement. In 2006 the competition went national in scope with tens of thousands of students participating. In 2007 that number rose to over 100,000 and 2008 saw participating students estimated at around 150,000.

The competition aims to build self-confidence, help students to master public speaking skills, and teach them about literature. It starts small in individual English and Literature classes. Winners then compete against winners from other such classes in the same school, then go on to state competitions, and finally on to the national level for the over-all title. Each winner at the state level receives $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington to compete for the national championship. The state winner's school receives $500 for the purchase of poetry books. Other prizes are: a runner-up in each state receives $100, with $200 for his or her school library. A total of $50,000 in scholarships and school stipends are awarded at the National Finals. Prizes awarded throughout every level of competition come to over $100,000.

What is required to participate in the contest? To memorise and then recite (or rather perform) assigned poems covering the whole world of poetry and all its long history. The Irish competition focuses mostly on Irish literature, and so too does the U. S. competition focus primarily on American literature. In both cases, however, it is not limited to that, but may branch out at the discretion of those operating the contests. Usually, all participants of the same level memorize and recite the same poem, each level requiring a different poem. Sometimes the competition may have a theme. For instance, Poetry Ireland recently had poems by William Butler Yeats assigned for all its levels. I did not find evidence of something similar occurring in the U.S., but it is an option.

Program materials used in the competition are available for download at the official Poetry Out Loud website (http://www.poetryoutloud.org) and are also made available in hard copy to all schools participating in the official contest.

The 2008 Poetry Out Loud National Champion for the U.S. was 16 year old Shawntay A. Henry from the U.S. Virgin Islands. For information about how to involve your school, visit the Poetry Out Loud website listed above or the National Endowment for the Arts pages devoted to it at http://www.nea.gov/national/poetry/about.html. May poetry both continue to live and even thrive through this and other initiatives and celebrations!