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/ .

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/