Michigan Poetry Out Loud

Michigan Poetry Out Loud Encouraging Michigan's youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance. and compete for a $20,000 college scholarship.

Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation competition for high school students. By encouraging youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance, students can master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage. Participating high schools host their own competitions and select a student to represent their school at the state fina

ls. The state champion will advance to the national finals in Washington, D.C. School champions will be invited to participate in the Michigan Youth Arts Festival, a three-day event featuring the finest artistic talent in Michigan high schools. More than 15,000 students from at least 50 Michigan high schools have participated in Poetry Out Loud programs since 2005. Randi Laundre, a 10th grader from Alba High School, was named the 2012 Michigan Poetry Out Loud champion. Laundre bested 35 other high school students at the state championship, held March 9-10 at Saginaw Valley State University. She competed at the national finals in Washington, D.C., May 13-15, against 53 students.

June is Pride Month! Celebrate by reading poetry! Check out a collection of poems from the Poetry Out Loud anthology tha...
06/04/2025

June is Pride Month! Celebrate by reading poetry! Check out a collection of poems from the Poetry Out Loud anthology that celebrate LGBTQ+ pride at the link below.

The Bug By Tommye Blountlands on my pretty man’s forearm. Harmless,it isn’t deadly at all; makes his muscle flutter— the one that gets his hand to hold mine, orball into a fist, or handle a gun. It’s a ladybug,or an Asian lady beetle everyone mistakesfor...LoveLivingThe BodyThe MindRelatio...

Nearly a month later and we're still thinking about Nour's amazing performance at the 20th Poetry Out Loud National Semi...
06/03/2025

Nearly a month later and we're still thinking about Nour's amazing performance at the 20th Poetry Out Loud National Semifinals. 🤩

Photos by James Kegley.

Congratulations, Isavel! 🎉
05/09/2025

Congratulations, Isavel! 🎉

We are so proud of Nour for competing in her regional semifinal yesterday! Though she wasn't one of the top nine nationa...
05/07/2025

We are so proud of Nour for competing in her regional semifinal yesterday! Though she wasn't one of the top nine national finalists, she did a great job and we are so proud to call her our state champion!

We're so excited to be cheering on our Poetry Out Loud State Champion, Nour Al-Yasseri, at the 2025 Poetry Out Loud Nati...
05/05/2025

We're so excited to be cheering on our Poetry Out Loud State Champion, Nour Al-Yasseri, at the 2025 Poetry Out Loud National Semifinals competition tomorrow! 🤩

The 2025 Poetry Out Loud National Finals showcase the incredible talent and hard work of the 55 Poetry Out Loud State Ch...
04/30/2025

The 2025 Poetry Out Loud National Finals showcase the incredible talent and hard work of the 55 Poetry Out Loud State Champions headed to Washington, DC, to compete. Cheer them on virtually by watching the Semifinals livestream on May 6 at Arts.gov/Poetry-Out-Loud.

04/28/2025

Glenn Doss, our 2023 Michigan Poetry Out Loud State Champion, on the one word he'd use to describe Poetry Out Loud. Hear more from Glenn and other Poetry Out Loud alumni on their experiences with the program in our blog series: https://www.michiganhumanities.org/blog-updates/

04/16/2025

We were so lucky to have Nandi Comer write an original poem, "The Gathering," in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Poetry Out Loud, and read it at night one of the Michigan Poetry Out Loud State Finals.

Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest

03/31/2025
We are so grateful to the many special guests at this year's Poetry Out Loud State Finals! Thank you to Shayna "Akanke" ...
03/25/2025

We are so grateful to the many special guests at this year's Poetry Out Loud State Finals! Thank you to Shayna "Akanke" Marie and Brittany Rogers for leading inspiring student and teacher workshops, past Michigan Poet Laureate Nandi Comer for writing and sharing a poem written in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Poetry Out Loud, current Michigan Poet Laureate Dr. Melba Joyce Boyd for sharing poetry with the audience while round three tabulation took place, Ozay Moore for thoughtfully emceeing all rounds of competition, and our board chair, Bill Beekman, for presenting the awards. Thank you to our judges: Mable Buchanan Palmer, Guillermo Delgado, Cindy Hunter Morgan, Ciatta Tucker, and Chad Swan-Badgero. And of course, thank you to our volunteers, partners, venue hosts, sponsors, students, teachers, and supporters; you all make this program possible!

Photos by Trumpie Photography and Pete Johnston.

Thank you WILX News 10 for covering our 2025 Poetry Out Loud State Finals event!
03/21/2025

Thank you WILX News 10 for covering our 2025 Poetry Out Loud State Finals event!

The state finals champion receives a $1,000 cash award. They will also travel to Washington D.C. for the national finals from May 5-7th.

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2364 Woodlake Drive, Suite 100
Okemos, MI
48864

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