Poetry Out Loud

Maddie Lukomski recites her poem "My Sleeves." Maddie, a junior at Sioux Falls Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, won the spoken word category for Poetry Ourselves, which invited students to submit original poems.

Poetry is a magical art. It entices us to view things through metaphor and symbolism. To pay attention to detail and the meaning beneath the words. To hear color and see sound.

The annual Poetry Out Loud Festival encourages students from across the country to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance. Each year since 2012, the Utah Arts & Museums Arts Education Program has partnered with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation to host school wide competitions across the state. Winners progress to regional and statewide finals and ultimately National Championships in Washington DC. In 2016, over 4,600 students from 35 Utah high schools participated.

The 2016 Poetry Out Loud Utah Winner was Tessa Thornley of Bear River High School who won tickets to Washington DC for the national Championships. This year, the statewide competition will be held mid-March and the finals will be in DC on April 25-26th. Watch out for news about Utah’s young Poetry Out Loud representatives here.