HTY seeks national student poetry contest entrants

HONOLULU — Honolulu Theatre for Youth and the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts invite high school students from across the state to compete in Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest, presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. 

Poetry Out Loud seeks to foster the next generation of literary readers by capitalizing on the latest trends in poetry - recitation and performance. The program builds on the resurgence of poetry as an oral art form, inviting the dynamic aspects of slam poetry, spoken word, and theater into the English classroom. Through Poetry Out Loud, students can master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage.

Schools are invited to participate in classroom and schoolwide contests, advancing to a Hawaii state competition on March 18, 2012, in Honolulu. The Hawaii state champion will receive $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC, to compete for a $20,000 prize in the National Finals on May 14-15, 2012.

Lea Di Marchi from Punahou School was selected as the 2011 Hawaii Poetry Out Loud champion and represented the state in the 2011 National Finals in Washington, DC, last April.

This is the seventh year that HTY is partnering with HSFCA to bring Poetry Out Loud to Hawaii. More than 365,000 students from 2,255 high schools nationwide took part in the 2010–2011 Poetry Out Loud program.

“To memorize a great poem is to make a friend of it for life,” said John Barr, President of the Poetry Foundation. “Poetry Out Loud brings new energy to an ancient art by returning it to the classrooms of America.”

To get involved, high school teachers should contact HTY at 839-9885 ext. 704 or e-mail [email protected].

Program materials are available for download at www.poetryoutloud.org, which offers additional resources.