Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation contest for high school students, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Poetry Foundation. Dr. Rose Norman, chair of the UAHuntsville English Department, is coordinator for the thirteen counties in Alabama's region 5 (see county map). High school students compete in their classrooms and schools, and school winners go on to a free workshop at UAHuntsville in October and a regional competition at UAHuntsville in November. Regional winners compete for the state championship in Montgomery in February, and the state champion competes at the national competition in Washington, DC in April. There are prizes all along the way, and the national champion wins a $20,000 scholarship.

Teachers must register by September 15 for their classes to participate. These classes may be in any field of study, but most often are from English, Theatre, and Forensics.  The NEA and the Poetry Foundation provide teachers with free, standards-based curriculum materials once their schools register to participate.  Materials include one teacher's guide with sample lesson plans to help instructors teach recitation and performance, and two audio CDs featuring well-known actors and writers such as James Earl Jones, Anthony Hopkins, Alyssa Milano, and N. Scott Momaday. Teachers also get two Poetry Out Loud Anthologies and two Poetry Out Loud posters.  Each participating school gets one instructional DVD for each school participating. The program requires less than two or three weeks of class time. There is no charge to participate.

Upcoming Events

Workshop for Teachers, July 28, 2011, Morton Hall Room 127-129, UAHuntsville (campus map)
The UAHuntsville English Department will host a 2-hour workshop where teachers can learn how to involve their students in Poetry Out Loud.  Attending this workshop is free, carries no obligation, and will include a certificate of attendance. Teachers who participated last year will be there to describe their experiences, and attendees will be invited to contribute to this year's planning for our regional competition. 
Information: 256-824-6321

About Poetry Out Loud

• 2010 Region 5 Finalists
  At our Region 5 competition in November 2010, first prize winners were Emanuel Waddell, a senior at Bob Jones High School in Madison, for the Poetry Out Loud anthology competition, and for the original poetry competition Jackie Jackson, a freshman at Columbia High School in Huntsville. The Huntsville Literary Association awarded each first prize winner a check for $100, and UAHuntsville awarded them a $1000 scholarship.

  The top five in each competition (link to details) went on to the state competition in Montgomery on Monday, February 21, 2011, at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, where Margaret (Peggy) Payne won first place for Original Poetry and second place for Anthology Poetry. Emanuel Waddell was a state finalist in anthology poetry, and Peyton Presto was a state finalist in original poetry.