Learn more about Wyoming Poetry Out Loud by contacting Linda Coatney at the WAC at 307-777-7742 or lcoatn@state.wy.us.
Here are the national results from a National Endowment for the Arts press release:
William Farley of Arlington, Virginia, won the title of 2009 Poetry Out Loud National Champion in Washington, D.C., April 28.
Farley receives a $20,000 award and his high school, Washington-Lee High School, will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. The Poetry Out Loud National Finals were held last night at the George Washington University Lisner Auditorium in Washington, DC. Farley was among 12 finalists and 53 state champions from around the country who participated in the fourth national poetry recitation contest, sponsored by the National Arts Endowment and the Poetry Foundation.
William Farley's final recitation for the evening was "Danse Russe" by William Carlos Williams, a wry look at a middle aged man's fancies and foibles. When asked if it was hard to inhabit the voice of an older man, he said "not at all. The hardest thing to do was not laugh while I read it."
As part of the recognition, Farley also will have the opportunity to recite a poem at the rededication of the Lincoln Memorial in May 2009, an event sponsored by the National Park Service in Washington, DC.
The second-place winner was Barbara Gooding of Western Hills High school in Frankfort, Kentucky, who received a $10,000 award. The Illinois State Champion, Kareem Sayegh of University Laboratory High School in Champaign, Illinois, received the third place prize and a $5,000 award. In addition, each of the top 12 finalists received a $1,000 award. The twelve finalists' schools received $500 each for the purchase of poetry books.
The other 12 finalists include Erik Hollis of Arizona; Kaleena Rose Kovach of Colorado; Madeline E. Roger of Kansas, Will Whitham of Maine; Peter Winfrey of Missouri; Mido Aly of Ohio; Wiyaka His Horse Is Thunder of South Dakota; Stanley Andrew Jackson III of Texas; and Audrey Kiely of Vermont.
Guest judges presided over the competition, including Garrison Keillor, host of the radio show "A Prairie Home Companion," award-winning actress Tyne Daly, journalist Jeffrey Brown, founder of Quest: arts for everyone Tim McCarty, and poets Suji Kwock-Kim, Patricia Smith, and Luis Rodriguez. Singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant gave a special performance of poetry-inspired songs. Scott Simon of National Public Radio served as master of ceremonies.
On April 27, 53 high school students – Poetry Out Loud champions from every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands – competed in three semifinal rounds based on geographic region. Twelve students advanced to compete in the National Finals on April 28. Judges evaluated student performances on criteria including physical presence, articulation, evidence of understanding, level of difficulty, and accuracy. Students performed poems from the Poetry Out Loud print and online anthologies (www.poetryoutloud.org). The event was the culmination
of a pyramid-structure competition that began last September among schools across the country.
