Weekly Reader | Lead Story | A Night to Recite

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an you imagine a performance contest that involves 150,000 teenagers? Can you picture every one of those students memorizing a poem, then performing it in front of classmates and teachers?

That’s exactly what’s happened over the past seven months. From Maine to Hawaii, high school students gave dramatic readings of poems. Fifty–two of those students were named the best in their area. The finale? On April 28 and 29, those 52 teens will be in Washington, D.C, trying to win what is one of the largest poetry recital competitions in the world.

This giant explosion of words is called “Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest” (POL). It’s part of National Poetry Month, an American celebration of poems that occurs every April. “This contest takes advantage of the excitement around poetry slams, hip–hop, and rap,” says Stephen Young of the Poetry Foundation. “It invites kids to express a lot through poetry.”

The first POL took place two years ago. The competition is open to high school students, and it gets bigger every year. Teens competing at the finals later this month won’t just recite a poem. They’ll interpret a poet’s words in performances that often combine recitation, acting, and movement.

National Poetry Month

“April is the cruelest month.” That is a famous line from a famous poem (“The Waste Land”) by American writer T.S. Eliot. In the U.S. today, however, April is the most poetic month. For more than a decade, these 30 days have been devoted to celebrating the importance and the fun of poetry.

The Academy of American Poets started National Poetry Month in 1996. It hoped that Americans would read a poem, write a poem, or attend a poetry reading. The goal was to remind people that poetry is cool. It seems to be working: Poetry is alive and well today. Thousands of people are attending poetry slams (parties where people read their poems). Rap music has inspired many to write rhythmic, rhyming stories or songs. And poetry competitions such as the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest are growing in popularity.

Want to know more about the fun and promise of poetry? Check out www.poets.org. There you’ll find information, including a list of 30 ways to celebrate National Poetry Month.

“It’s a really amazing process,” explains 17–year–old Gabrielle Guarracino, of Rockland, Massachusetts. “When we read, we bring poems to life. People can be in tears over what’s going on inside of them as they recite their poem.”

Last year, Gabrielle won her state championship and competed in the national semi finals. This year, she again won her state championship, and she’ll be trying to win the nationals again. “It’s nerve–racking,” she says. “You sit and bite your nails a lot. But I learned from my work last year. This time, I will speak more slowly and project my words better."

On April 29, 12 finalists will recite their poems at the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The event is free and open to the public. The winner—the new national champion—gets a $20,000 college scholarship. But in some ways, every one of the kids who participates in the POL contest will be a winner. “When you memorize a poem, it becomes yours,” says Stephen Young of the Poetry Foundation. “You’re not dependent on having a book in hand; you always have it.”

How are poetry and rap songs the same? How are they different?

The official Web site of the Poetry Out Loud competition. See videos of the kids who won last year. Find out how your school can participate in this contest next year here.

You’ll find hundreds of poems for kids here (many of them very silly), plus poetry games and lots of other poetry–based fun.

Revise a famous poem in this fill–in–the–blanks Poetry Mad Libs game.

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