Poetry Out Loud Contest Reaches 19,000 Students

Massachusetts' Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest reaches a record 19,000 students from schools in 78 towns in its sixth year. The Huntington Theatre Company facilitates the Massachusetts segment of the national contest that brings poetry into the classroom in a dynamic way, growing students' speaking skills and self-confidence. The Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Huntington sponsor the Massachusetts contest; the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Poetry Foundation sponsor the competition on the national level.

Poetry Out Loud engages high school students in mastering public speaking skills, building self-confidence, and learning about their literary heritage by taking poetry from the page to the stage. In its sixth year of national competition, Poetry Out Loud has inspired hundreds of thousands of high school students to discover and appreciate classic and contemporary poetry. To learn more about the national contest, visit huntingtontheatre.org/pol.

High schools across the state have recently completed classroom and school-wide competitions, the winners of which will compete at one of four regional semi-final rounds held in March. Competitions will occur on:

* Saturday, March 5:
  -8:30am at the Huntington Theatre Company's main stage, the Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston
  -9:30am at Framingham Temple Association, 404 Concord Street, Framingham
* Sunday, March 6:
  -1pm at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod, 307 Old Main St, South Yarmouth
  - 9:30am at Springfield Museums, 21 Edwards Street, Springfield

Judges will choose students from each of these contests to compete at the State Finals on Sunday, March 13 beginning at 9:30 a.m. at Boston's Old South Meeting House (310 Washington Street, Boston), site of the historic meeting of colonists that led to the Boston Tea Party and a continued haven of free speech today. All competitions are free and open to the public. The state champion will travel to Washington, D.C. to represent Massachusetts in the National Finals in April.

Judges will include Massachusetts poets, writers, playwrights, and theatre artists including January O'Neil, Regie Gibson, Jamele Adams, Nina La Negra, Lydia R. Diamond, Jarita Davis, Barry Hellman, and Michelle Baxter, as well as Huntington Trustees David Wimberly and Bill McQuillan. At the finals, Ashmont Hill Chamber Music will perform a selection from their NEA sponsored program, "Music, Poetry, and American Identity."

This year's Massachusetts Poetry Out Loud competition includes 78 schools located in the following communities: Abington, Acton, Amherst, Avon, Boston, Brighton, Brookline, Burlington, Cambridge, Canton, Devens, Dorchester, Dover, Dracut, Everett, Fairhaven, Falmouth, Framingham, Great Barrington, Harwich, Haverhill, Hingham, Hudson, Hyannis, Ipswich, Lawrence, Leominster, Lexington, Malden, Marblehead, Mattapoisett, Methuen, Newburyport, Newton, North Eastham, North Easton, Northborough, Norwell, Peabody, Pittsfield, Provincetown, Randolph, Rockland, Roxbury, Salem, Sheffield, Shrewsbury, South Hadley, South Yarmouth, Springfield, Stoneham, Stoughton, Sudbury, Swampscott, Topsfield, Tyngsborough, Waltham, West Roxbury, West Springfield, Westfield, Whitman, Wilbraham, and Worcester.

The NEA awards all state champions $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington to compete in the national championship, and the state champion's school receives a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. Each state's runner-up receives $100, as well as $200 for his or her school library. A total of $50,000 in scholarships and school stipends at the National Finals will be awarded to the winners. The Huntington will provide all school winners with prizes and all Massachusetts semi-final winners with the Kindle e-reader.

"Each year, more Massachusetts students participate in Poetry Out Loud, a testament to the unique learning experience it offers," says Anita Walker, MCC Executive Director. "At a time when budget pressures are forcing many schools to cut arts programs, we are delighted to partner with the talented educators at the Huntington Theatre Company to bring this great program to more schools."

"The Huntington is proud to lead Massachusetts' support of Poetry Out Loud," says Huntington Theatre Company Artistic Director Peter DuBois. "Its growth over the past five years speaks to its success. Poetry Out Loud provides a forum for the next generation of orators and creative voices to be heard. The Huntington welcomes audiences from across Massachusetts to come and hear these talented students bring great poems to life on stage."

2009 and 2010 Massachusetts state champion Wilmene Hercule explains, "Poetry Out Loud allowed me to step outside myself and made me more thoughtful about those around me and what they feel. For example, "A Song in the Front Yard" made me wonder whether or not the quieter people I know are looking for the same kind of freedom poet Gwendolyn Brookes' speaker was looking for. Poetry Out Loud has given me a deeper understanding of poets and their personalities. You never truly understand a poem or where the poet is coming from until you've analyzed it, defined it, and recited it for others as if you were the poet him or herself."

Huntington Associate Director of Education Lynne Johnson says, "Poetry recitation walks hand in hand with theatrical performance skills, and what better way is there to bring our English language to life! Give me a student who masters the English language through recitation and performance, and I'll give you a student who is thoroughly engaged in this learning experience, and therefore truly educated."

Recitation and performance are major new trends in poetry. There has been a recent resurgence of poetry as an oral art form, as seen in the slam poetry movement and the immense popularity of hip-hop music. Poetry Out Loud builds on that momentum by inviting the dynamic aspects of slam poetry, spoken word, and theatre into the English class.

The NEA and the Poetry Foundation have partnered with state arts agencies to support the expansion of Poetry Out Loud, which encourages the nation's youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance. This exciting program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage.

Learn more about Poetry Out Loud and watch a video about the program's 2008 competition at huntingtontheatre.org/pol.

The Massachusetts Cultural Council is a state agency that promotes excellence, access, education, and diversity in the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences, in order to improve the quality of life for all Massachusetts residents and contribute to the economic vitality of our communities. The MCC is committed to building a central place for arts and culture in the everyday lives of communities across The Commonwealth. The Council pursues this mission through a combination of grants, services, and advocacy for cultural organizations, schools, communities, and artists.

The Huntington Theatre Company, in residence at Boston University, is Boston's largest professional theatre company. Led by Artistic Director Peter DuBois and Managing Director Michael Maso, the Huntington creates world-class productions, runs nationally renowned programs in education and new play development, and serves the local theatre community through its operation of the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA.