Hey teens! Do you like poetry, drama, or performing? Poetry Out Loud is your chance to compete for a grand prize of $20,000 on a national stage. It's free to participate, so sign up now to start your poetic journey.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of high school students nationwide learn about the impact and power of poetry through Poetry Out Loud, a free arts education program from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Offered locally in partnership with the Wyoming Arts Council, the Library will be hosting a local competition for highschoolers on February 11th. The winner of the Casper competition will go on to compete at a statewide competition in Cheyenne, and winners will progress onto a national competition in DC and a chance to win $20,000!

How does it work?

• Students must pick three poems from the Poetry Out Loud Anthology to memorize and recite. 
• Students must compete in a local competition to qualify for state. Local competitions can be as small as two students and a judge or as big as 25+ students and 4+ judges. 
• The student who wins first place at their local competition will have travel and hotel covered to compete at the state final.
• Wyoming’s state champion will receive $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC, to compete at the National Finals May 8-10, 2023.
• Only currently enrolled students in grades 9–12 are eligible, with an exception made for 8th-grade students participating in a 9th- through 12th-grade class.

Poetry Out Loud State Finals

• Date: March 6, 2023
• Time: 1-4pm
• Place: Cheyenne, WY | Details TBA
• Age: 9-12 grades
• Cost: Free and open to the public

State Finals Award Ceremony

• Date: March 7, 2023
• Time: 10:30am
• Place: Cheyenne, WY | Details TBA

Here is a little taste of what it looks like to recite: Watch Scottlynn Ernestine Ballard recite "Self-Help" by Michael Ryan.

Join us in the Crawford Room for an afternoon competition, but you must sign up beforehand to participate. Register below to guarantee your spot. Call Amara Fehring, the Community Development and Arts Learning Specialist with the Wyoming Arts Council, for more information at 307.630.3918. This program is free and open to the public.