2024 Poetry Out loud
Regional and National Competition between High School Poets.
Poetry Out Loud is a regional and national event hosted by the National Endowment of the Arts and Poetry Foundation in high schools in America and its territories. It allows students to use existing poetry for spoken word performances, write their own original poetry, and perform poetry they have written. The final competition uses poems from a discography in the Poetry Out Loud database.
The Commission for the Arts and Humanities hired me as a teaching artist. I visited local high schools in the District of Columbia to mentor and work with students in the Poetry Out Loud event in the regional competition. I then assisted as a Regional Coordinator for the final National Competition held in the Lisner Center on the George Washington campus in Washington DC.
Poetry is an oral tradition that gives the performer and audience member an intimate walk within our experiences and conscience to become introspective and promote holistic regenerative healing through spoken words that speak to our human journey in life. The memories and emotions these poems elicit convey the transformative power of language.
Nyla Dinkins, DC Regional Poetry Out Loud Champion 2024
The Poetry Out Loud event participants displayed a range of emotions, talent, and skill in their spoken word performance. The ethnic background of each performer brought a variety of diverse perspectives to the interpretations of each poem. Each regional state winner showed why they were chosen to represent the heart of their state.
