Program Summary
Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program created by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation that encourages young performers in Colorado to bring the words of great poets to life through memorization, recitation, and competitive performance. The program starts in the school, or at the local level, with an area organization. Winners from school and local competitions then advance to state competition, and ultimately to the national finals in late April.
Poetry Out Loud grants $50,000 in awards and school stipends at the National Finals, including a $20,000 prize for the Poetry Out Loud National Champion.
A goal of the program is to help high school students learn about poetry by memorizing and performing it, master public speaking skills, build self confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life.
Colorado’s Poetry Out Loud is a partnership of the National Endowment of the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, Colorado Creative Industries, and Empowered. Empowered administers the program.
Overview
Type: Competition
For: Creatives and high schools
Deadlines: Visit Empowered
OEDIT division: Colorado Creative Industries
2023-2024 Competition Information and Important Dates
January 10, 2025
Registration due - Register here (Google Forms)
January 31, 2025
All school/local competitions must be completed by this date.
February 2, 2025 at 5:00 p.m.
Students participating in Poetry Ourselves Competition must submit their original poem by this date.
March 16-17, 2025
State Competition will be held at the Denver Center of Performing Arts located at 1101 13th St.
Denver, CO 80204. Time TBD.
May 5-7 , 2025
Poetry Out Loud National Finals in Washington, DC.
Participants may join the "Poetry Out Loud State Partners and Program Coordinators" group on Facebook to contribute to the forum and see tips and questions from fellow coordinators.
