Poetry Out Loud

Through an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts and administered statewide by the Wyoming Arts Council, Poetry Out Loud encourages high school students to learn about poetry through memorization, performance, and competition. Students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life.

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The Power of Poetry

The Voices of Our Youth Command Our Future

Poetry Out Loud (POL) inspires high school students to find their voice and the confidence to make themselves heard, using one of the most powerful tools at their disposal—art.

Poetry in education has experienced a Renaissance through this program. Students are given the opportunity to interact with the words of the masters through recitation, building a relationship with the works and creating a sense of shared ownership branded by their own technique of volume, pitch, pace, and personal point of view. The Wyoming Arts Council has proudly hosted the Wyoming Poetry Out Loud State Competition since 2005 and will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the program this year.

How Poetry Out Loud Works

The structure of the competition is similar to a spelling bee. This annual program starts in the fall, with high school teachers using the free POL teacher toolkit and related materials to teach poetry recitation and run classroom competitions.

Classroom winners then advance to a school wide competition. School champions advance to the state finals in Cheyenne for a chance to represent Wyoming in the national competition.

The Wyoming State Champion receives:

• $200 cash prize
• $500 for their school to purchase literary materials
• An opportunity to compete at the National Finals for college scholarship funds

Visit poetryoutloud.org for detailed information and to check out POL action across the country.

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The 2024-25 Program Timeline

• September 1, 2024 POL Anthology available for the 2023-2024 school year, and registration for state competition opens
• December 15, 2024 Deadline to register your school for the State Competition
• February 14, 2024 Deadline to host school competitions & Deadline to submit written poetry for Poetry Ourselves
• February 19, 2024 Deadline to submit school representative info for the State Competition
• March 2, 2024 Poetry Ourselves State Competition & Open Mic in Cheyenne, Wyoming
• March 3, 2024 Wyoming State Competition in Cheyenne, Wyoming
• March 20, 2025 Deadline for state champions & chaperones to register for National Finals
• May 5 – 7, 2025 Poetry Out Loud Finals in Washington, DC

Register to Participate in Wyoming’s 2025 Poetry Out Loud competition using the button below:

Poetry Out Loud Registration Form

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Teacher and Organizer Resources

Registered schools will receive free multi-media toolkits which include: a teacher’s guide complete with lesson plans, guidance on classroom contests, evaluation criteria, posters, and customizable contest announcement poster. In addition, teachers will receive updates and support from the WY Poetry Out Loud Coordinator throughout the year.

The anthology and a digital copy of the curriculum guide, the official rules and eligibility, and tips for organizing a school competition can be found here.

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Wyoming’s 2024 Poetry Out Loud Winner, Elora Nation

Winner: Elora Nation, Penn Foster High School, Natrona County

Runner-up: Sunny Butterfield, Buffalo High School, Buffalo, Johnson County

Third Place: Hailey Walton, Cheyenne East High School, Cheyenne, Laramie County

This past season, seven schools and community organizations sent representatives from across Wyoming to compete in the 2024 Wyoming State POL Competition. Students first competed and won at the classroom and school levels in their local communities before participating in the state finals competition.

2024 Poetry Ourselves – Original Written Word Champion

• 1st – Hunger by Briar Markovsky
• 2nd – The Song by Lucia Hucinova
• 3rd – The Line to Get to the Beach by Hallie Cozzens

2024 Poetry Ourselves – Spoken Word Winners

• 1st – Justice Nelson
• 2nd – Elora Nation
• 3rd – Dovelynn Martinson
• 4th – William Greathouse

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Previous Wyoming Poetry Out Loud Winners