LANSING, MI—Michigan Humanities and the Michigan Arts and Culture Council are pleased to announce that registration for the 2023-24 Poetry Out Loud season is now open. Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition for high school students across the country. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence and learn about literary history and contemporary life. Schools and organizations across the state of Michigan are encouraged to apply for this free program for 9th-12th grade students. Registration is open until December 1, 2023.
Poetry Out Loud starts in a high school classroom or at the local level with an area organization. Teachers or leaders organize a competition at their school or organization, and winners of those competitions advance to the state competition, and ultimately to the national level. During these competitions, contestants will recite works they memorized from an anthology of more than 1,000 classic and contemporary poems. The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation provide free, standards-based curriculum materials.
This season, the state finals competition will be held in Lansing on March 8-9, 2024. The Michigan state champion receives a $1,000 cash award and competes in the national finals, held in Washington, D.C. April 30-May 2, 2024, where a total of $50,000 in awards, including a $20,000 award for the Poetry Out Loud National Champion, will be presented. All expenses for the national finals are provided for the state champion and a chaperone.
Michigan’s Poetry Out Loud program is funded through a partnership between Michigan Humanities and the Michigan Arts and Culture Council. Additional support is generously provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities and Poetry Foundation.
For more information about Michigan’s Poetry Out Loud program head to michiganhumanities.org. For more information about the national Poetry Out Loud competition, please go to poetryoutloud.org.
About Michigan Humanities
Michigan Humanities strives to bring people together through stories, histories, cultures, and conversations. In carrying out this mission, Michigan Humanities builds awareness and excitement for humanities in everyday life, achieves best practices and sustainability for all humanities programs and services in Michigan, and upholds the following key values: inclusion, diversity, and equity; discovery and understanding; authentic conversation; respectful collaboration; and meaningful experiences. Michigan Humanities’ vision is a more thoughtful, connected, engaged, and informed Michigan.
