News

Students Compete for National POL Championship

Competition includes $20,000 Grand Prize

By Liz Auclair, Press/Public Affairs, NEA –

Since 2005, 3.3 million students from across the country have memorized some of the best poetry, sharing their interpretation of the work of poets such as Judith Ortiz Cofer, Walt Whitman, and Kevin Young through a dynamic recitation competition—National Endowment for the Arts’ Poetry Out Loud program. On April 25-26, 2017, 53 students out of 310,000 competitors from every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands will come to our nation’s capital to compete in the 2017 Poetry Out Loud national finals, an opportunity to win a grand prize of $20,000 and the title of National Champion.

Poetry Out Loud is a national initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Poetry Foundation and the state arts agencies that encourages high school students to learn more about great poetry, both classic and contemporary, through memorization and performance. For many students, what starts in the classroom as an assignment can turn into a lifelong love of poetry, while also providing the opportunity to further develop analytical, memorization, and public speaking skills that serve them well both in and out of school.

“We know that these 53 students have made it to the Poetry Out Loud National Finals through hard work, talent, and confidence, but also with the support and encouragement of their teachers, peers, families, and states,” said Jane Chu, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. “Whether it’s a classroom competition or the national finals, it is always a joy to see the students’ enthusiasm for poetry and dedication to expressing the poems’ beauty and meaning to the audience.”

“It’s exciting when a high school student finds a personal connection with a poem committed to memory, whether it was written one year or one hundred years ago,” said Henry Bienen, president of the Poetry Foundation. “The dramatization and recitation of classic and contemporary poems can strike a deep chord proving that poetry is both timeless and timely.”

Both days of competition will be available through a live, one-time-only webcast at arts.gov. Schools and organizations that wish to organize a viewing party of some or all of the competition can register at arts.gov, where you can also find tips on hosting your party, promotional materials, and details on other viewing parties around the country. Join the conversation on Twitter and Instagram using #POL17.

The 53 state champions also have the opportunity to compete in the Poetry Ourselves competition by submitting an original work of poetry in one of two categories: either a written poem or a video of a spoken poem. The two winners and runners-up will be selected by poet Naomi Shihab Nye and announced at the April 26 national finals competition.


Tennessee proudly supports Marquavious Moore, the 2017 Tennessee state champion and wishes him the best of luck in the national competition.


From the classroom to the stage

Poetry Out Loud begins in the classroom, where teachers use the Poetry Out Loud toolkit to teach poetry recitation and run classroom competitions. Students select, memorize, and recite poems from an anthology of more than 900 classic and contemporary poems. Beginning at the classroom level, winners advance to the school-wide competition, then to the state competition, and ultimately to the national finals in Washington, DC. A total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends to purchase poetry materials will be awarded to the top nine finalists and their schools at the national finals. More than $50,000 in cash and school stipends were awarded at state final competitions. The Poetry Out Loud national finals are administered by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. More information about the program and how to participate is at poetryoutloud.org.