2008 Poetry Out Loud National Champion Shawntay A. Henry. Photo by James Kegley.

If you participated in Poetry Out Loud, please take the appropriate survey:
State Champions Survey
Teacher Survey
School Coordinator Survey

Welcome to Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest. Created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, Poetry Out Loud is administered in partnership with the State Arts Agencies of all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

By encouraging high school students to memorize and perform great poems, Poetry Out Loud invites the dynamic aspects of slam poetry, spoken word, and theater into the English class. This exciting new program, which began in 2005, helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage.

About the Program

NATIONAL FINALS

With a fan club including her family, friends, English teacher, poetry coach, and members of the Virgin Islands Council on the Arts, 16-year-old Shawntay Henry of the United States Virgin Islands captured the audience with her poetry recitations and was named the 2008 Poetry Out Loud National Champion. National Finals Home >>

TODAY'S FEATURED POET

Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962) Once shunned for his unpopular political views and harsh critiques of mankind’s egotism, Robinson Jeffers has regained popularity in recent years as environmentalism’s most forceful poet-advocate. His uncompromising work celebrates the enduring beauty of sea, sky and stone and the freedom and ferocity of wild animals in contrast to human pettiness, meddling and greed. Although closely associated with the town of... More >> Poems Carmel Point Rock and Hawk Shine, Perishing Republic The Bloody Sire The Treasure