About

The competition begins at the classroom level each fall, where students select and memorize poems from the official Poetry Out Loud anthology — a curated collection of classic and contemporary works spanning multiple centuries and traditions. School-level competitions identify a champion who advances to regional or state competitions, with state finals held each March. Each state and jurisdiction sends one champion to the National Finals in Washington, D.C., held each April. At the national level, all 55 state and jurisdictional champions compete in semifinal rounds; nine finalists advance to the championship round, judged on accuracy of memorization, physical presence and voice, and overall dramatic appropriateness of interpretation. Total prizes awarded at the national level reach $50,000, including $20,000 for the national champion, $10,000 for second place, and $5,000 for third; the schools of the top 12 finalists each receive a $500 stipend for poetry book purchases. Participation at all levels is free. US citizenship or permanent residency is required to advance to state and national competition.

Poetry Out Loud occupies distinct territory in the pre-college arts competition landscape. Unlike creative writing competitions that evaluate original work, Poetry Out Loud evaluates the performer's relationship to an existing text — the depth of interpretive understanding, the quality of memorization, and the ability to make a poem live in front of an audience. State champion status, reached from a field of 160,000+ students, is a meaningful and recognized credential for students targeting performance, theater, English, and literary arts programs. The $20,000 national prize is the largest cash award for an individual student in any poetry or literary arts competition in the country, and the federal sponsorship gives the program a credibility and visibility that no privately administered poetry competition can match.

Poetry Out Loud is the right competition for a high school student who loves poetry and performance — state champion status is the threshold worth pursuing, and the preparation required, which demands both deep textual understanding and genuine performance skill, is itself a serious literary education.