The 2012 Poetry Out Loud National Finals will take place May 13-15, 2012, in Washington, DC, at the Harman Center for the Arts.
2010 Third Place Winner DeVonna Smith, Second Place Winner Victoria DiMartile, and National Champion Youssef Biaz
From a competitive field of more than 365,000 students nationwide, 16-year-old Youssef Biaz of Auburn, Alabama, won the title of 2011 Poetry Out Loud National Champion at the National Finals held in Washington, D.C., on Friday, April 29. With his achievement, Biaz also received a $20,000 award and his high school, Auburn High School, received a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books.
The Poetry Out Loud National Finals were held at the historic Lincoln Theatre in Washington, D.C. Biaz was among nine finalists and 53 state champions from around the country who participated in the sixth national poetry recitation contest, sponsored by the Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Biaz’s final recitation for the evening was “Filling Station,” a poem by Elizabeth Bishop, one of the most highly regarded American poets of the second half of the twentieth century. Biaz said reciting the poem was the most exciting part of being part of this year’s competition: “It was my favorite poem, and definitely my English teacher’s favorite. I liked the challenge of presenting a poem in a female voice.” Biaz also recited Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” and Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays.” An interview with Biaz is available online.
When asked whether the experience and poems will stay with him, Biaz replied, “I could never stop reading poetry. I think it would be a tremendous loss if I did.” Biaz’s English teacher introduced the Poetry Out Loud program to his classes for the first time in 2010; that year, Biaz also served as Alabama State Champion and became one of nine students across the country to make it to the National Finals. Though he did not win, Biaz said he still remembers the poems that he recited for the 2010 Poetry Out Loud competition, in particular John Keats’s “When I have Fears that I May Cease to Be.”
The second-place winner in the 2011 Poetry Out Loud national competition was Victoria DiMartile of Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, who received a $10,000 award. DeVonna Daisy Smith of Reading, PA, received the third-place prize and a $5,000 award.
In addition, the 4th – 9th place finalists each received a $1,000 award, and their schools received $500 each for the purchase of poetry books. The other finalists were Samuel Opoku (Northglenn, CO); Morgan Joyce Williams (Springfield, IL); Kari Barclay (Bethesda, MD); Michaela DeAndra Murray (Dorchester, MA); Emily Orellana (Reno, NV); and Melissa Johnston (Brandon, SD).
Guest judges presiding over the final rounds of competition on Friday night included poets Valerie Martínez, Thomas Sayers Ellis, and Brian Turner; actress and author Amber Tamblyn; playwright Aditi Brennan Kapil; and the artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Michael Kahn.
Guest judges evaluating recitations during the semifinal rounds on Thursday included Naomi Ayala, Ibtisam Barakat, Teri Ellen Cross Davis, Patricia Gray, Joseph O. Legaspi, Keith Leonard, Gary Logan, and Orlando Ricardo Menes.