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The 2023 Poetry Out Loud National Finals took place on May 9 & 10, 2023 at the Lisner Auditorium in Washington, DC. The event host was Joy Sunday.

Sreepadaarchana Munjuluri, a junior at Columbus North High School, is the 2023 Poetry Out Loud® National Champion. The 2nd place winner is Edward Wilson Jr., a senior at Jackson Preparatory School in Mississippi, and Madison Harris, a freshman at Indian Creek School in Crownsville, Maryland took 3rd place. Wilson Jr. will receive a prize of $10,000 and Harris will receive a prize of $5,000. Victoria Laine Jelks (Kansas), Stella Wright (Minnesota), Wica-ta-wi Hoksina Brown (Montana), Abby Sullivan (North Carolina), Mariam Botana de Armas (Texas), and Morgan Sprouse (West Virginia) are the other six national finalists and each will receive a prize of $1,000. The representing schools/ organizations of the nine finalists will each receive $500 that will go towards the purchase of poetry materials.

Learn more here.

State Finals

State/Territory Date Winner & School/Org
Alabama March 3, 2023 Emily Biaz- Auburn High School
Alaska March 20, 2023 Brigitta Palepa Ta’aga- West Anchorage High School
American Samoa March 17, 2023 Hazel Ipuniuesea Leo- Iakina Adventist Academy
Arizona March 11, 2023 Biruni Hariadi- Gary K. Herberger Young Scholars Academy
Arkansas March 11, 2023 Drew Pirtle- Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts
California March 19-20, 2023 Alex Yue- John F. Kennedy High School
Colorado March 1, 2023 Hana Kebede- Overland High School
Connecticut March 11, 2023 WM Leete- Weston High School
Delaware March 2, 2023 Maiss Hussein- Paul M. Hodgson Vocational Technical High School
District of Columbia March 12, 2023 Warwick Lloyd- St. Anselm’s Abbey School
Florida March 11, 2023 Yan Luis Lebron Santiago- Howard W. Blake High School
Georgia March 14, 2023 Molly Pitra- St. Pius X Catholic High School
Hawaii February 26, 2023 Irene Jiayi Zhong- Punahou School
Idaho March 18, 2023 Liam Peterson- Mountain Home High School
Illinois March 13, 2023 Yohanna Endashaw- Niles Township High School West
Indiana March 4, 2023 Sreepadaarchana Munjuluri- Indiana Humanities
Iowa March 5, 2023 Lydia J.M. Newsome- Waterloo West High School
Kansas March 11, 2023 Victoria Laine Jelks- Horton High School
Kentucky March 1, 2023 Sarah Gamble- Allen County Scottsville High School
Louisiana March 4, 2023 Camilla Howell- Zachary High School
Maine March 13, 2023 Abigail Case- Hermon High School
Maryland March 18, 2023 M. Harris- Indian Creek School
Massachusetts March 12, 2023 Jaden D. Riley- John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science
Michigan March 3-4, 2023 Glenn Deon James Doss Jr.- Melvindale High School
Minnesota February 24, 2023 Stella Wright- Robbinsdale Armstrong High School
Mississippi March 9, 2023 Edward Wilson Jr.- Jackson Preparatory School
Missouri March 9, 2023 Nicholas Merlo- Crossroads College Preparatory School
Montana March 11, 2023 Wica-ta-wi Hoksina Brown- Polson High School
Nebraska March 12, 2023 Amelia C. Escalante- Bellevue West High School
Nevada March 11, 2023 Ashlee Sandoval- Elko High School 
New Hampshire March 17, 2023 Ella Weinmann- Conant High School
New Jersey March 6, 2023 Lydia Smith- Henry Hudson Regional School
New Mexico March 5, 2023 Rutendo Musharu- United World College-USA
New York March 11, 2023 James Masson- Syosset High School
North Carolina February 25, 2023 Abby Sullivan- Weaver Academy
North Dakota February 27, 2023 Gabby Johnson- Minot High School
Ohio March 10, 2023 Hiba Loukssi- Xenia High School
Oklahoma March 7, 2023 AdaLynn Anderson- Lawton High School
Oregon March 11, 2023 Kari Morgan- Oregon School for the Deaf
Pennsylvania March 13, 2023 Peachy Lee- Lancaster Country Day School
Puerto Rico March 10, 2023 Amir Trinidad Vidal- Saint John’s School
Rhode Island March 12, 2023 Natasha B. Connolly- Classical High School
South Carolina March 4, 2023 Catherine Wooten- Westgate Christian School
South Dakota March 20, 2023 Grace C. Powell- Dakota Valley High School
Tennessee March 4, 2023 Megan Ammons- Harding Academy of Memphis
Texas March 11, 2023 Mariam Botana de Armas- Northside School of Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship
Utah March 15, 2023 Aeva West Deltoro-Dye- Dixie High School
Vermont March 16, 2023 Greer Kennedy- St. Johnsbury Academy
Virgin Islands March 11, 2023 Annelia N. Graham- St. Croix Seventh-day Adventist School
Virginia March 10, 2023 Evalynn Bogusz- Heritage High School
Washington March 11, 2023 Matthew Valentine- Olympia High School
West Virginia March 11, 2023 Morgan Sprouse- Bridgeport High School
Wisconsin March 4, 2023 Riley Grace Saenim- The Prairie School
Wyoming March 6, 2023 Elora L. Umbach- Penn Foster High School

Find your state’s Poetry Out Loud coordinator here.