Henry Real Bird to conduct public workshop in Cheyenne

In conjunction with Wyoming's Poetry Out Loud state competiton, guest judge Henry Real Bird will be facilitating a public workshop on Sunday, March 3, at the Laramie County Library, from 1:30 to 4:00 p.m., in the Cottonwood Room on the main floor.

Henry's theme for the workshop, "Shadow of Home" will "take participants beyond reflection and past the stars, sending our thoughts in search of rhyme, exploring realms of dreaming in sound and tunes of a life."

This workshop is free and open to the public.

Henry Real Bird, Pat Frolander and Rick Kempa to serve as judges for March 4-5 Poetry Out Loud competition in Cheyenne

Henry Real Bird, Montana poet laureate emeritus

The 2013 Wyoming Poetry Out Loud state competition will take place March 4-5 in Cheyenne. Fourteen student competitors, teachers, parents and guests are expected. Guest judges this year are Henry Real Bird, Pat Frolander and Rick Kempa.

Born and raised on the Crow Indian Reservation, Henry Real Bird is a former Montana Poet Laureate (2009-2011). Real Bird has punched cows, rodeoed, and now ranches and raises bucking horses. He holds a master’s degree in general education from MSU Billings and has taught school from kindergarten to college levels. He has worked with the YMCA’s Writer’s Voice, won the Western Heritage Award for the National Cowboy Hall of Fame,  performed at the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Arts Festival, and performs annually at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. Real Bird has had six anthologies, five poetry collections and twelve children’s books published, along with many articles, tapes and CDs.

Patricia Frolander, Wyoming’s Poet Laureate, works the family ranch near Sundance, WY with her husband, Robert. Patricia’s publications include Grassland Genealogy (Finishing Line Press, 2009) and, Married Into It, (High Plains Press, 2011), which won the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum’s Wrangler Award for Best Poetry Book of 2011; the Willa Cather Award by Women Writing the West for the 2012 Best Poetry Book; and Best Woman Writer of 2012 by High Plains Book Awards.

Rick Kempa, teaches writing and directs the Honors Program at Western Wyoming College. He is the author of two books of poems, Keeping the Quiet (Bellowing Ark Press, 2008), and Ten Thousand Voices, (Littoral Press). He is a three-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize, a past recipient of a Wyoming Arts Council Literary Fellowship, and is a current member of the Council’s Artist Roster. He earned his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona in 1987.

This year’s student contestants are from Sundance, Hulett, Buffalo, Hanna, Ft. Washakie, Riverton, Kaycee, Shoshoni, Cheyenne, Casper, Clearmont, Worland, Laramie, and Lander.

The event begins with a dinner for the contestants, teachers, judges and guests. The competition begins at 7 p.m. at the Historic Atlas Theater in downtown Cheyenne. The winner and runner-up are announced at the awards ceremony the next morning, which begins at 10:30 a.m. on March 5 in the Capitol Rotunda.

The winner from each state and a chaperone receives an all-expense-paid trip to compete in Washington, D.C., April 29-30 at the national finals. Among the activities is the Congressional Breakfast, where students get to meet and have photos taken with the state’s Legislators. Scholarships totaling $50,000 are awarded to the national champion and the other placers.

Poetry Out Loud is memorization and recitation competition for ninth through twelfth grade students. Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, the program is administered by the Wyoming Arts Council.

Justine Haka from the Poetry Foundation in NYC will be a special guest of the Wyoming Arts Council at the Cheyenne Poetry Out Loud  events.  

FMI: Linda Coatney, 307-777-6393 or linda.coatney@wyo.gov

Sign up now for Wyoming Poetry Out Loud

Wyoming Poetry Out Loud champion Sara Ellingrod of Arvada-Clearmont presents "Chicago" by Carl Sandburg at the POL national finals in Washington, D.C., in May. Photo © James Kegley

The Wyoming Arts Council invites interested language arts, speech/debate and drama teachers to take part in Poetry Out Loud (POL), the national recitation and memorization contest sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Designed specifically for students in grades 9-12, the program is a fun way to teach and reinforce language arts standards about poetry.

The sign-up deadline for Wyoming Poetry Out Loud is January 11.

The program materials are available now from the Wyoming Arts Council. The school contests will take place through mid-February, 2013. The state finals will take place in Cheyenne March 4-5. Many of the program materials are also available on the web site at http://www.poetryoutloud.org/.

POL builds on the resurgence of poetry as an oral art form, encouraging the nation’s youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance. Students can work on mastering comprehension, public speaking, acting, performance, drama and English skills while building self-confidence and internalizing our rich literary heritage.

Last year, 11 schools from across Wyoming participated in the program. Sara Ellingrod of Arvada-Clearmont, a second-time school winner, won the state finals and represented Wyoming at the national finals in Washington, D.C. She became one of only 53 students in a competition that involved 1,500 high schools and 365,000 students nationwide.

If a school is interested in participating in Wyoming’s Poetry Out Loud competition, or needs further information, please contact Linda Coatney at the WAC, 307-777-6393 or Linda.coatney@wyo.gov. 

National Book Festival Sept. 22-23 in D.C. features NEA Literature Fellows

The National Endowment for the Arts sends this info about this weekend's National Book Festival:

At this year's National Book Festival, many of the poets and writers at the Poetry & Prose Pavilion will celebrate their roles as NEA Literature Fellows, one of the nation's most prestigious competitive awards for new and established authors. The Poetry & Prose Pavilion, sponsored by the NEA, is part of the Library of Congress’s twelfth annual literary festival, which takes place on September 23-24, 2012, on the National Mall in Washington, DC. 

This year's lineup at the Poetry & Prose Pavilion includes T.C. Boyle (San Miguel), Giannina Braschi, (United States of Banana), Junot Díaz (This Is How You Lose Her), Stephen Dunn (Here and Now), Jeffrey Eugenides (The Marriage Plot), Nikky Finney (Head Off & Split), Paul Hendrickson (Hemingway’s Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost: 1934-1961, Laura Kasischke (Space, In Chains), Philip Levine (News of the World), Margot Livesey (The Flight of Gemma Hardy), Thomas Mallon (Watergate), and Colson Whitehead (Zone One).

Nine of this year's presenters are NEA Literature Fellows (Boyle, Braschi, Dunn, Eugenides, Hendrickson, Jones, Kasischke, Levine, and Livesey); Jones and Hendrickson just received their Fellowships in 2012.

"[This] program ... I feel is essential to fostering the arts -- particularly for beginning or out-of-the-way artists whose work is not immediately apprehended in a commercial way," said author and Creative Writing Fellow (78, 83) T.C. Boyle in the NEA Literature Fellowships publication.

Also at the Poetry & Prose Pavilion, student state champions from the 2012 Poetry Out Loud National Finals.  Kristen Dupard, who earned both the 2012 Poetry Out Loud National Champion and Mississippi State Champion titles, along with second-place winner and Vermont State Champion Claude Mumbere, and third-place winner, Utah State Champion MarKaye Hassan will recite classic and contemporary poetry that earned them titles during this year’s national poetry recitation contest. Poetry Out Loud is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. 

Visit the National Endowment for the Arts and Library of Congress websites for interviews with current and past Book Festival authors, audio clips, downloadable materials, and interactive features. The NEA (@NEAarts) will live-tweet from the NEA Poetry & Prose Pavilion via Twitter. Look for #natbookfest – the official National Book Festival hashtag – to follow news from the festival.

The Poetry & Prose Pavilion is one of several pavilions where more than 100 writers and illustrators will discuss their work. Pavilions include Children, Teens, Fiction & Mystery, History & Biography, Contemporary Life, Poetry & Prose, SciFi Fantasy & Graphic Novels and Special Programs pavilions, plus the Family Storytelling Stage featuring authors and musical acts popular with young children. Last year, more than 100,000 book fans attended the festival.

The 12th annual Library of Congress National Book Festival will be held on the National Mall between 9th and 14th Streets on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and on Sunday, Sept. 23 from noon to 5:30 p.m., rain or shine. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the National Book Festival Information Line at 888-714-4696 or visit the National Book Festival website.

Wyoming's Poetry Out Loud winner performing at the state competition

Here is contestant Sara Ellingrod performing at Wyoming's Poetry Out Loud state competition, held in Cheyenne, March 5-6. Thanks to Alan O'Hashi of Wyoming Community Media for filming this event. Click on Sara's name to see more Wyoming POL contestant performances.

Poetry for the Ages

2012 Wyoming Poetry Out Loud contestants

Shalene Velarde sat nervously at the table while we waited for our dinners to be served. Her friends, Kayla, and Mikki, runner-up in Pathfinder High School’s Poetry Out Loud (POL) contest, tried their best to ease Shalene’s nerves. She was Pathfinder school’s POL champ, and was about to compete with ten other Wyoming high school contestants in the state POL contest at the Atlas Theatre in downtown Cheyenne.

“Don’t worry, you’ll do fine,” they kept telling her. Shalene had the worst kind of nerves—so internalized that they could not be assuaged no matter what; nerves that would most likely get worse in the short hour until the competition would begin.

As a fellow sufferer of that plight, I commended her for just doing it. “No matter what happens, you will have this experience, and you can say, ‘I did it.’ That’s really important.” I knew of what I spoke, having let those kinds of nerves hold me back from participating in many creative endeavors.

All the students competing that evening had some degree of nerves working on them. At the dinner before the competition, the atmosphere was chatty but expectant. Teachers had brought their school’s competitor as well as assorted supporters—fellow students, parents, friends.

As coordinator of Wyoming’s Poetry Out Loud program, I’d seen several years of students’ POL nerves. The competition is a unique experience, drawing on aspects of dramatic, spoken word and slam performance, speech and debate, and just plain ol’ elocution, a mostly forgotten tradition from the Victorian era, when recitation of favorite memorized romantic verses was a favorite parlor game.

Eligible ninth through twelfth grade POL competitors choose poems to memorize from the POL “canon,” a selection of a few hundred poems by well-known published poets from the 16th Century up to contemporary poets of today. Contestants only have two requirements when picking poems: that one of the three poems they choose be pre-20th Century and one be 25 lines or less. One poem can fill both of those requirements. After the selection process, the memorizing begins for the school competition. The winning student from the school comes to the state contest. Each state champion and a chaperone receives an all-expenses paid trip to Washington D.C., for the contestant to compete in the national finals.

The key to a good POL recitation is linking the meaning and emotion of the poem to being able to deliver the poem to the audience, and not just the audience that is sitting in chairs out front, but for the audience about whom the poem was written.

This audience, or the tribe, as I learned at the public poetry workshop put on by Jim Coppoc, a poet, spoken word artist and performer, and one of the judges for Wyoming’s 2012 POL competition, is probably the most important component. In knowing that audience, the reciter has probably studied what the poem is trying to convey, also learning something about the poet in the process. That seems to be the formula for the most successful poetry recitations. Dramatic emphasis when needed, pregnant pauses, and use of the rhythm and meter of the poem are also good indicators that the reciter has studied these elements of the poem, and practiced the poem out loud, to listeners.

This year’s winner, Sara Ellingrod from Arvada/Clearmont High Schoool, also won the 2011 state contest. Her teacher/mentor/coach, Linda Crawford has had the state winner for the past three years. State winners can keep coming back to compete in the state competition, but not if they win any one of the twelve final places at nationals.

Sara nailed several aspects of Poetry Out Loud performance criteria. Contestants are judged on physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, level of difficulty, evidence of understanding of the poem and overall performance. Her level of performance took a definite leap from the previous year.

Casper student Hannah Hout earned the runner-up spot. She is also a returning contestant from 2011, and her performance as well reflected a studied improvement.

As it turned out, this was Shalene’s first time ever on a stage. That’s a big step, a big leap and a big responsibility, to go from a classroom setting to a formal and dramatic stage performance with only the sparest of instruction or training. As all the contestants did, Shalene walked out on that stage, forgotten phrases and all, and just did it. Taking that first step is always the hardest, and often, the most brilliant.

By Linda Coatney

Video of Wyoming Poet Laureate Pat Frolander at Poetry Out Loud competition in Cheyenne

Art Perspectives - Wyoming Poet Laureate Patricia Frolander from Indie Media: The New Journalism on Vimeo.

Sara Ellingrod of Arvada-Clearmont High School wins Poetry Out Loud title

Sara Ellingrod (center) is pictured with First Lady Carol Mead (l) and Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill (r) who presented the awards certificates to all of the participants, the winner and runner-up.

For the second straight year, Sara Ellingrod of Arvada-Clearmont High School in Sheridan County was named winner of the Wyoming Poetry Out Loud finals held in Cheyenne on Monday.

As champion, Ellingrod receives an expenses-paid trip with a chaperone to Washington, D.C. where she will represent Wyoming at the Poetry Out Loud finals, May 14-15.

Ellingrod receives $200 and a selection of books. She also earned a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books for her school.

This is the third consecutive year that a student from Arvada-Clearmont High School has won the Wyoming competition.

Receiving runner-up honors was Hannah Hout, a student at Star Lane Center in Casper.

She receives $100 and a selection of books. Also, her school receives a $200 stipend to buy poetry books.

The awards were presented by Wyoming First Lady Carol Mead and Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill.

In addition to Ellingrod and Hout, nine others participated. Those students are Alicia Sanchez, Ft. Washakie Charter High School; Alyssa Prado, South High School, Cheyenne; Christian Borgaard, Carey Junior High School, Cheyenne; Felipe Lehtinen, Whiting High School, Laramie; Katlynn Kretz, Worland High School; Kyla Christensen, Kaycee High School; Rebecca Dulaney, Sundance Secondary; Shalene Velarde, Pathfinder High School, Lander; and Shawna Wolf, Buffalo High School.

Judges for this year’s competition were Jim Coppoc, performance poet and musician from Ames, Iowa; Wyoming Poet Laureate Pat Frolander; and poet and educator Diane Panozzo.

The Wyoming Arts Council invites high school students involved in creative writing, drama and speech and debate to encourage their teachers to sign up for next year’s Poetry Out Loud program. The WAC will send out registration information in September.

For more information, contact Linda Coatney at the WAC at 307-777-6393 or linda.coatney@wyo.gov. For more information about Poetry Out Loud please visit www.poetryoutloud.org.

Poetry Out Loud tonight in Cheyenne

From Linda Coatney: Local art teacher Mark Vinich silk-screened this design onto a piece of linen-looking fabric, a design that he came up with using elements of the Poetry Out Loud logo. It didn't work to try and cover up the previous printing on the bag with paint. Wonder Under was used to apply the piece of fabric to the front of the bag. I did some quick cross-stitching around the edges of the fabric and sewed a button on each one. These bags will be given to the student contestants with a copy of POL judge Jim Coppoc's book "Manhattan Beatitude, 1997".

The Poetry Out Loud state competition takes place tonight at the Historic Atlas Theatre in downtown Cheyenne. There will be 11 competitors reciting poetry. Jim Coppoc, from Ames, Iowa, joins Wyoming Poet Laureate Pat Frolander of Sundance and Tie Siding poet and educator Diane Panozzo as judges for the Wyoming Arts Council's Poetry Out Loud competition tonight at 7 p.m. in the Historic Atlas Theatre. Come on out and see high school students from around Wyoming battle it out for the title of Wyoming Poetry Out Loud champ. Winner travels to Washington, D.C., in May to compete for the national title and scholarship money.

Poetry Out Loud judge Jim Coppoc gives workshop at Laramie County Public Library

Performance poet and musician Jim Coppoc conducted a poetry writing workshop Sunday at the Laramie County  Public Library in Cheyenne. Coppoc, from Ames, Iowa, is senior lecturer in English and American Indian studies at Iowa State University, and poetry and spoken word in the low residency MFA program at Chatham University.

Jim said, "Poetry is everywhere." He related this story. He asked his mom if she read poetry. "Oh no, I don't understand poetry." But when he looked around her living room, he noticed a "Chicken Soup for the Soul" poetry edition, the many Christmas cards that all had a short verse of some kind which his mother had propped open among the Christmas tree branches, and the Dr. Seuss books on the second shelf of the coffee table.

Jim's workshop focused on the musicality in poetry, from Biblical David playing the lyre while he sang his psalms to Emily Dickinson who wrote poems in musical forms. Many poets focus on the the rhythm/meter, rhyme, stanza breaks, compression, consonance and assonance.

He showed a short clip from the movie "Pinero," about New York City poet Miguel Pinero, a leader of the Nuyorican movement. Benjamin Bratt portrayed Pinero, and people who knew Pinero say Bratt did his homework. The scene was Bratt as Pinero reciting "Seekin the Cause," a riveting scene. This literary poem is backed up by musicians playing Puerto Rican music. Pinero is one of Jim's favorite poets. He has friends who were friends of Pinero.

Jim like speaking poetry, not reading it. When he writes, he speaks out loud the lines he writes, as well as when he revises. An excellent slammer, Jim says he can often be heard speaking his poems very loudly, screaming really. "Writing out loud," he calls it. He advises beginning poets in school to buy as many books as you can and read out loud.

The focus turned to where the poetry we write comes from. He talked about the influences that we grow up with and that we know first hand. Next we watched a clip of performance poet Bryann Bain, Brooklyn's own Nuyorican Grand Slam Poetry Champion. Bain is best known for his journalism. Bain wrote "Driving While Black," about his experience being arrested in New York because of racial profiling. Bryonn grew up a Muslim, became a Buddhist, and his performance encompasses lines that he sings in a chant like rhythm.

We next watched slam poet Shane Koyczan, who grew up in Yellowknife, the northernmost town in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Shane listened to classical music because when he was growing up there was no television reception and no radio stations. Shane performed a piece he wrote about Beethoven, whose music he listened to growing up. The poem describes how he "got" his music.

Next up was a Gwendolyn Brooks poem. Jim introduced the idea of writing for/about/from your tribe -- the place, culture, the people where we come from. The poem of hers he used as an example, " We Real Cool." In just eight lines, Brooks tells us who she is writing about, the bravado, the group's limited loyalty to each other, their predicament of growing up in the ghetto, the bravado and ecstatic state of being young, the bebop rhythm of the lines. She is writing for this tribe, the one-syllable words they would understand. The short lines that tell us quickly and succinctly the story of their short lives.

We real cool. We
Left school. We

Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We
Die soon.

Of course, the sorrow of the poem is carried in the last "We" line.

So, he asked the group some questions: Who is my "We"? Who is my tribe? How does your tribe sing? What is your tribe's story? How does it begin? How does it end?

He asked us to write our tribe's poem and music. Some good work came out. Since I only have the one I wrote, I will offer it as an example.

From the city,
We drove to the mountain lodge
And stayed in one-room cabins,
These days called rustic.
My sister and I rode horses without guides
While my parents lounged lakeside
My mother's anger dissipated
To the carrying pines,
To the lake's lapping
To the small cafe where we ate fresh trout and grilled hamburgers.

One time, I fell off a horse and skidded
On flesh points of contact
Along the dirt road.
Running back to the cabin, crying and sniveling
My mother did not meet me
Greet me
Hug me
Seat me
To nurse my wounds,
But my injuries stoked my father's anger
And we stalked down to the corral
To confront that smart-alecky wrangler.

Cowboys young and old came one night
From parts unknown to me
For the ranch party in the long boat house
Next to the dock.
Old cowboys danced with me,
A young girl not yet weathered
In their weathered arms.

My father watched them,
They keeping their hands
Suitably at mast and we danced
In that aura of celebration,
I not once noticing if my
Sharp-eyed mother
Was there.

--Linda Coatney

Wyoming Poetry Out Loud competition coming soon

The 2012 Wyoming Poetry Out Loud state competition will take place March 5-6 in Cheyenne. Sixteen student competitors and their teachers are expected, the largest slate for the Wyoming competition since its inception in 2006. Guest judges this year are James Coppoc, Pat Frolander and Diane Panozzo.

Coppoc, a poet, spoken-word artist and musician from Ames, Iowa, teaches English and American Studies at Iowa State University and creative writing in the low residency M.F.A. program at Chatham University in Pittsburgh. Balancing poetry, pedagogy, playwriting, music and performance in his varied career, Coppoc’s publications include Manhattan Beatitude, 1997 (One Small Bird Press, 2010), Reliquary (Fractal Edge Press, 2010), and Blood, Sex & Prayer (Fractal Edge Press, 2005). Coppoc received four Pushcart Prize nominations in 2011.

Coppoc will give a public workshop on Sunday, March 4, from 2-4 p.m. at the Laramie County Library, focusing on bringing out the musicality in poems.

Frolander is Wyoming’s Poet Laureate, appointed by Governor Mead in late 2011. She hails from Sundance, Wyo., where she works the family ranch with her husband. Her publications include Married Into It (High Plains Press, 2011), and Grassland Genealogy (Finishing Line Press, July, 2009); her poetry is informed by her move to and unexpected rendezvous with the West and its captivating lifestyle. Frolander will read her poetry and say a few words prior to the competition’s start.

Panozzo, Tie Siding, Wyo., teaches classes at the University of Wyoming (UW) in the Honors English program, at the UW Art Museum and the UW Theatre Department. She has won three literary awards from the Wyoming Arts Council: a 2003 Literary Fellowship in poetry, and two honorable mentions in fiction and nonfiction. Panozzo taught in the Laramie County School District for 18 years, and began the Words Worth Symposium for middle and high school students in Cheyenne, and in the 1990s, started the first poetry slams in Cheyenne. She was nominated for a Governor’s Arts Awards in 2003.

Poetry Out Loud is sponsored by the Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Wyoming Arts Council administers the program. Ninth through twelfth grade students are eligible to compete.

The event begins with a dinner for the contestants, teachers, judges and guests. The competition begins at 7 p.m. at the Historic Atlas Theater in downtown Cheyenne. The winner and runner-up are not announced until the next morning.

The awards ceremony begins at 10:30 a.m. on March 6 in the Capitol Rotunda. Presenting the awards this year will be First Lady Carol Mead and Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill.

The winner from each state receives an all-expenses-paid trip (along with a chaperone) to compete in Washington, D.C., May 13-15 at the national finals. Among the activities is the Congressional Breakfast, where students get to meet and have photos taken with their Congressmen. A total of $50,000 in scholarships is awarded to the finalists and winner.

Jim Coppoc, guest poet for 2012 WY Poetry Out Loud

Jim Coppoc (http://www.jimcoppoc.org/) will be the guest poet for Wyoming's Poetry Out Loud state competition, March 5-6. In the spirit of Poetry Out Loud, here he is perfoming Miguel Pinero's "Lower East Side Poem." Last year Jim was nominated for 4 Pushcarts. Together with wife, guitarist/singer/songwriter Jenny McClung, they perform as The Gatehouse Saints.

Wyoming Poetry Out Loud competition takes place March 5-6

Sara Ellingrod, center, Wyoming's 2011
Poetry Out Loud champ.

If you are a teacher of 9th - 12th grades and have students that are interested in competing in Poetry Out Loud, you have until February 20 to hold a school contest. Two competitors make a contest!

The state finals will take place in Cheyenne on March 5th and 6th. The dinner begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Historic Plains Hotel. The competition takes place at the Historic Atlas Theater, across the street from the Plains beginning at 7 p.m.

The following morning, breakfast begins at 7 a.m. Student and teacher workshops begins at 8 a.m.

At 10:30 a.m., everyone goes to the Capitol, where certificates are given to all the participants, and the winner and runner-up are announced.

Invited guests include, Jim Coppoc a performance poet from Iowa; Pat Frolander, Wyomng's Poet Laureate; and Cindy Hill, Superintendant of Public Instruction.

FMI: linda.coatney@wyo.gov or 307-777-6393

Watch Wyoming's Sara Ellingrod in live webcast today for Poetry Out Loud semifinals in D.C.

Sara Ellingrod (center) receives her first-place award for the Wyoming Poetry Out Loud competition  March 1 from Secretary of State Max Maxfield (left) and Wyoming Poet Laureate David Romtvedt.

Sara Ellingrod, a ninth-grader at Arvada-Clearmont High School in Sheridan County, will be representing Wyoming in the national finals today in Washington, D.C. She will be competing against 16 other state champions from the Western states from 5-8 p.m. (EDT) at the historic Lincoln Theater.

Ellingrod will be one of the youngest competitors. She also comes from one of the smallest schools -- there are 23 students in grades 9-12 at Arvada-Clearmont. This is the second straight year that a student from her school has represented Wyoming at the national finals.

Poetry Out Loud is co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. In Wyoming, the Poetry Out Loud program is administered by the Wyoming Arts Council. For more info, contact Linda Coatney at the WAC at 307-777-7742.

You can watch the semifinals and finals live by clicking here

FMI: http://nea.gov/national/poetry/index.html#

Sara Ellingrod of Arvada-Clearmont H.S. named winner of Wyoming Poetry Out Loud competition

Sara Ellingrod, a ninth-grader at Arvada-Clearmont High School in Sheridan County, is this year’s winner of the Wyoming Poetry Out Loud finals held in Cheyenne on Monday.

As this year’s champion, Ellingrod receives an expenses-paid trip with a chaperone to Washington, D.C., where she will represent Wyoming at the Poetry Out Loud finals, April 28-29.

Ellingrod receives $200 and a poetry anthology. She also earned a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books for her school.

This is the second straight year that a student from Arvada-Clearmont High School has won the Wyoming competition. There are 23 students in grades 9-12.

Additionally, for the first time, two runner-up awards were presented. Receiving runner-up honors are Tyler Clementson of Shoshoni High School and Jon Adams of Cheyenne East High School.

Both Clementson and Adams receive $100 and a poetry anthology. Also, their schools receive a $200 stipend to buy poetry books.

The awards were presented Tuesday in a State Capitol Rotunda ceremony by Secretary of State Max Maxfield and Wyoming Poet Laureate David Romtvedt from Buffalo.

In addition to Ellingrod, Clementson and Adams, ten other students – the most ever for the competition – participated. Those students are Eddie Collins, Dubois; Alicia Juanita Sanchez, Ft. Washakie School; Pheonix Hardin, Whiting High School in Laramie; Bryce McKenzie, Buffalo High School; Hannah Hout, Star Lane Center in Casper; Marco Dominguez, Kaycee High School; Alyssa Prado, Cheyenne South High School; Raena Bush, Sundance High School; Maddison Nielson, Jackson High School; and Izzy Jack, Cheyenne Central High School.

Judges for this year’s competition were Maxfield; Sophia Puccini, poet and dancer from Saratoga; and special guest judge, Detroit writer and poet M.L. Liebler.

The Wyoming Arts Council invites high school students involved in creative writing, drama and speech and debate to encourage their teachers to sign up for next year’s Poetry Out Loud program. The WAC will send out registration information in September.

FMI: Linda Coatney at the WAC at 307-777-6393 or lcoatn@state.wy.us. For info Poetry Out Loud please visit www.poetryoutloud.org/ .

Wyoming Poetry Out Loud awards presentation set for 10:30 a.m. in the Capitol Rotunda

Trek on down to the Wyoming State Capitol Rotunda for the Wyoming Poetry Out Loud awards announcement at 10:30 a.m. today. State Parks and Cultural Resources Director (and musician and theatre guy) Milward Simpson will serve as emcee and Secretary of State Max Maxfield (he'll be seen as The Cat in the Hat this week reading to students at various schools) will hand out the awards. Come down to the Capitol and celebrate the arts in Wyoming.

For those who attended the state finals last night at the Historic Atlas Theatre, you know what a great batch of  competitors Wyoming had this year. The program keeps growing. If you're a teacher or a student, grades 9-12, give the Wyoming Arts Council a call at 307-777-7742 for more info. You may also e-mail Linda Coatney at lcoatn@state.wy.us.

See you at the Capitol...

Just think of it as The Sixth Annual State of Wyoming Poetry Bee

You're invited to the state finals of the Wyoming Poetry Out Loud competition at 7 p.m. this evening at the Historic Atlas Theatre in downtown Cheyenne. The event is free and open to the public. It's sponsored by the Wyoming Arts Council, the Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Competing will be 13 students in grades 9-12 from schools around the state:

Bryce McKenzie – Buffalo

Eddie Collins – Dubois

Jon Adams – Cheyenne East HS

Pheonix Hardin – Laramie 

Hannah Hout – Casper

Alicia Juanita Sanchez – Ft. Washakie

Alyssa Prado – Cheyenne South HS

Tyler Clementson – Shoshoni

Sara Ellingrod – Arvada/Clearmont

Raena Bush – Sundance

Marco Dominguez – Kaycee

Maddison Nielsen – Jackson

Izzy Jack – Cheyenne Central HS 

The students will compete in three rounds of poetry recitation. Judges are M.L. Liebler, a performance poet from Detroit; Max Maxfield, Wyoming Secretary of State; and Sophia Puccini, dancer and poet from Saratoga. 

The winner will go to Washington, D.C. on an all-expenses-paid trip to compete at the national level, with 52 other contestants. The state winner also receives $200 and the winner’s school, $500 for the purchase of poetry books. The state runner-up receives $100 and their school, $200 for the purchase of poetry books.

P.S.: You could consider this a warm-up for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee which opens March 18 at the Atlas. Get more info at http://www.cheyennelittletheatre.org. 

Poetry and music Feb. 26 at the Atlas Theatre

Detroit performance poet M.L. Liebler and L.A. musician Peter Lewis will perform Saturday, Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m., at the Atlas Theatre in downtown Cheyenne. Tix are $5 general admission, $3 for students, military and seniors. M.L. and Peter are in town as part of the Wyoming Poetry Out Loud project sponsored by the Wyoming Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Poetry Foundation. More info at http://wyoarts.state.wy.us.

M.L. this to say about the Saturday performance:

"We'll do some of the songs that are sort of more or less poetic, songs we've written together and then Peter will perform acoustically some of the Moby Grape songs from his group, some of his own original pieces. We kind of have a nice little set where we're merging some of what we do together, some of my poetry in music, some of his Moby Grape and some of his original."

Liebler and Lewis perform in Cheyenne

Two Generations of Beats & Hippies from Motown to California

Barnes & Noble award winner and internationally known Detroit poet M.L. Liebler and Moby Grape legend Peter Lewis will perform in Cheyenne on Saturday, February 26 at the Atlas Theatre in downtown Cheyenne. Showtime is 7:30 pm. Tickets are $5 for general admission, $3 for students, seniors (that includes old beats and hippies) and military.

In addition, they will facilitate a workshop on Sunday, February 27 at the Laramie County Public Library from 2-4 pm. This event is free and open to the public.

These performances are being held in conjunction with Wyoming's Poetry Out Loud state competiton and awards ceremony. M.L. will also be a judge for the Wyoming Poetry Out Loud state competition which takes place on February 28 at the Atlas Theatre, beginning at 7 pm. Wyoming's own poet laureate David Romtvedt will also recite poetry and talk to the competitors before the competition kicks off. Other judges for the evening are Saratoga poet Sophia Puccini and Secretary of State Max Maxfield. Watch as high school students compete in three rounds of poetry recitation. Two outstanding Wyoming students will be selected as winner and runner-up. The winner receives an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. to compete against 53 other state and territory winners for the grand prize of a $20,000 college scholarship. Other scholarship monies are awarded to the second and third place and district national winners.

Peter Lewis is undoubtedly one of the most underrated musicians and contributors to come out of the 1960's rock & roll generation. Lewis was born into a show business family, and is the son of a renowned actress, the late Loretta Young.


Along with Poet Laureate, writer, performer & teacher M.L. Liebler from Detroit, these two artists take their audience on a historical, cultural & literary journey from poetry to blues, folk and rock up to original contemporary compositions of both poetry and music. Together they blend words & music with beautiful harmonies, memories and the art of spoken word.

Peter Lewis was a founding member of Moby Grape - one of the most influential and sought after American bands of its time. Moby Grape released their debut album in 1967, and it is still to this day one of the most revered rock albums of all times according to Rolling Stone magazine and other cultural critics. The band's energetic and hyper-exciting combination of folk, blues, country was a unique sound to rock & roll. It was a new kind of American roots music but the band's career never took off the way it should have, due to personal tragedies. It took Peter Lewis a long time to shake off the troubled legacy of his band and begin to make his mark again with a stellar singer songwriting recording career. Don’t miss out on the chance to see this living legend perform.

M.L. Liebler has written several books of poetry including the 2001 Finalist for The Paterson Poetry Prize and winner of The 2001 Wayne State University Board of Governors’ Award. He has read and worked with Ed Sanders, Diane di Prima, Michael McClure, Allen Ginsberg, Ken Kesey, Timothy Leary & William Burroughs. In addition, Liebler has recorded his poetry with such musical legends as Al Kooper, Country Joe McDonald, Jorma Kaukonen, Mike Watt, The Magic Poetry Band and many others.

To learn more about Moby Grape & Peter Lewis:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17498799

Check out M.L. Liebler - http://www.mlliebler.com/

Detroit performance poet and 60s psychedelic music pioneer team up for Feb. 26 show in Cheyenne

Detroit author and performance poet M.L. Liebler and L.A. musician Peter Lewis (shown in photo at right) one of the founding members of Moby Grape, will perform at the Historic Atlas Theatre in downtown Cheyenne on Saturday, Feb. 26. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $5, $3 for students, military and seniors (including over-the-hill hippies).

On Sunday, Feb. 27, Peter and M.L. will conduct a free public workshop at the Laramie County Public Library from 2-4 p.m.

On Monday, Feb. 28, M.L. will serve as one of three judges for the 2011 Wyoming Poetry Out Loud competition. The competition begins at 7 p.m. at the Atlas Theatre. Peter will perform a short performance during intermission. This event is free and open to the public.

These events are all sponsored by the Wyoming Arts Council, the Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Here is some bio info on M.L. and Peter:

One of our judges for the Poetry Out Loud event will be M.L. Liebler, a mover and shaker in the Detroit poetry scene. He has written several books of poetry including the 2001 Finalist for The Paterson Poetry Prize and was winner of The 2001 Wayne State University Board of Governors’ Award. He has read and worked with Ed Sanders, Diane di Prima, Michael McClure, Allen Ginsberg, Ken Kesey, Timothy Leary & William Burroughs.

In addition, Liebler has recorded his poetry with such musical legends as Al Kooper, Country Joe McDonald, Jorma Kaukonen, Mike Watt, The Magic Poetry Band and many others. Liebler also edited the recently released anthology, Working Words: Punching the Clock and Kicking Out the Jams, (Coffee House Press).

M.L. has worked with the Wyoming Arts Council before – as one of the judges for the FY 2002 creative writing fellowships and as a presenter at one of the last ARTSPEAK conferences, held in Jackson in the fall of 2001. As director of the Detroit YMCA Writer's Voice, he came to Cheyenne in 2002-2003 at the request of the YMCA to conduct poetry and music presentations and workshops with Woodstock legend Country Joe MacDonald.

Peter Lewis is a founding member of the 1960s band Moby Grape. Their debut album was released in 1967, and it is still to this day one of the most revered rock albums of all times according to Rolling Stone magazine and other cultural critics. The band's energetic and hyper-exciting combination of folk, blues, and country was a unique sound to rock & roll. It was a new kind of American roots music but the band's career never took off the way it should have, due to personal tragedies. It took Peter Lewis a long time to shake off the troubled legacy of his band and begin to make his mark again with a stellar singer/songwriting recording career. Don’t miss out on the chance to see this living legend perform.

M.L. and Peter perform together (see photo at right). These two artists take their audience on a historical, cultural & literary journey from poetry to blues, folk and rock up to original contemporary compositions of both poetry and music. Together they blend words & music with beautiful harmonies, memories and the art of spoken word.

FMI: Wyoming Arts Council and 307-777-7742.