State and National Finals
Out of 55 state and jurisdictional champions who competed in the national semifinals, nine high school students are advancing to the Poetry Out Loud national finals, which will be webcast on Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. ET at arts.gov/poetry-out-loud. Actor and writer Shaun Taylor-Corbett will host an evening of recitations by the top nine finalists, with live interviews with the students and the announcement of the 2021 Poetry Out Loud National Champion.
The 2021 Poetry Out Loud National Finalists are:
- Alabama Champion Soojin Park (Auburn High School)
- Colorado Champion Aidyn Reid (Fountain Valley School)
- Nebraska Champion Alexandra Rose Zaleski (VJ and Angela Skutt Catholic High School)
- South Dakota Champion Rahele Megosha (Washington High School)
- Tennessee Champion Kendall Grimes (Battle Ground Academy)
- Texas Champion Samuel Eluemunoh (Saint Mark’s School of Texas)
- U.S. Virgin Islands Champion Kaden A. Hughes (Antilles School)
- Vermont Champion Irén Hangen Vázquez (Burr and Burton Academy)
- West Virginia Champion Ben Long (Notre Dame High School)
More information on the National Finals can be found here.
For more information on holding virtual competitions, please visit the Organizing a Contest page.
State Finals
Find your state’s Poetry Out Loud coordinator here.
| State/Territory | Date | Winner & School/Org |
| Alabama | February 22 | Soojin Park, Auburn HS |
| Alaska | March 15 | Asya Gipson, West Anchorage HS |
| American Samoa | March 12 | Audrey-Rose Sevaaetasi, Samoana HS |
| Arizona | March 15 | Aliyah Chutkan, Xavier College Preparatory |
| Arkansas | March 13 | Katelyn Doyne, Mills University Studies HS |
| California | March 15 | Delali Bruce, Homeschool |
| Colorado | March 13 | Aidyn Reid, Fountain Valley School |
| Connecticut | March 13 | Shermya Dover-John, The Ethel Walker School |
| Delaware | March 3 | Rebecca Wisniewski, Milford Senior HS |
| District of Columbia | March 9 | Saquoya Gorham, Duke Ellington School for the Arts |
| Florida | March 6 | Flavia Nunez, School for Advanced Studies |
| Georgia | March 13 | Karma Hudnall, DeKalb School of the Arts |
| Guam | Tristha Garcia, Saint Paul Christian School | |
| Hawaii | March 7 | Taylor Cozloff, Kamehameha Schools Kapalama |
| Idaho | March 8 | True Leavitt, Xavier Charter School |
| Illinois | March 8 | Catherine Herrera, Taft HS |
| Indiana | March 10 | Lucia Walker, Bloomington HS South |
| Iowa | March 5 | Elijah Thiessen, Marshalltown HS |
| Kansas | March 10 | Garrett McLaughlin, Shawnee Mission West HS |
| Kentucky | March 2 | Emma Robison, Allen County Scottsville HS |
| Louisiana | March 6 | Jacob Simmons, Covington HS |
| Maine | March 15 | Emily Paruk, Gorham HS |
| Maryland | March 9 | Kate Maerten, Gerstell Academy |
| Massachusetts | March 14 | Rose Hansen, Norwell HS |
| Michigan | March 11 | Madison Ganzak, Roosevelt HS |
| Minnesota | March 11 | Sophie Keuther, Columbia Heights HS |
| Mississippi | March 5 | Morgan Love, Mississippi School of the Arts |
| Missouri | March 11 | Madeline Mills, Notre Dame de Sion |
| Montana | March 12 | Brady L. Drummond, Belt HS |
| Nebraska | March 12 | Alexandra Zaleski, Skutt Catholic HS |
| Nevada | March 11 | Eakjot Sekhon, Robert McQueen HS |
| New Hampshire | March 12 | Lilla Bozek, Newmarket HS |
| New Jersey | March 16 | Lilian Myers, Cinnaminson HS |
| New Mexico | March 14 | Zoe Sloan Callan, Native American Community Academy |
| New York | March 13 | Zaida Polanco, White Plains HS |
| North Carolina | February 20 | Meziah Smith, Knightdale HS |
| North Dakota | March 10 | Kylie Howatt, Northern Cass HS |
| Ohio | March 5 | Monserrat Tlauhel Flores, St. Francis DeSales HS |
| Oklahoma | March 4 | Stephanie Thanscheidt, Bethany HS |
| Oregon | March 13 | Tabarjah Neal, Oregon Charter Academy |
| Pennsylvania | March 8 | Taha Vahanvaty, Stroudsburg Area School District |
| Puerto Rico | March 11 | Matías Coss-Hernández, University of Puerto Rico HS |
| Rhode Island | March 15 | Virginia Keister. Chariho Regional HS |
| South Carolina | March 12 | Emily Allison, South Carolina Children’s Theatre |
| South Dakota | March 15 | Rahele Megosha, Washington HS |
| Tennessee | March 12 | Kendall Grimes, Battle Ground Academy |
| Texas | February 24 | Samuel Eluemunoh, St. Mark’s School of Texas |
| Utah | March 10 | Brynne Burgess, Legacy Preparatory Academy North |
| Vermont | March 15 | Irén Hangen Vázquez, Burr and Burton Academy |
| Virgin Islands | March 15 | Kaden Hughes, Antilles School |
| Virginia | March 12 | Azhane Pollard, Hopewell HS |
| Washington | March 16 | Lucy Shainin, Anacortes HS |
| West Virginia | Benjamin Long, Notre Dame HS | |
| Wisconsin | March 6 | Lauren Broman, Wrightstown HS |
| Wyoming | Raylene Jones, Natrona County HS |