INDIANA – Join Indiana Humanities and bring the experience of Poetry Out Loud® to students throughout Indiana this school year.
This national arts education program from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Poetry Foundation encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition for high school students. This program helps students master public speaking skills and build self-confidence, while also learning more about classical and contemporary poetry.
This will be the first year Indiana Humanities administers the Poetry Out Loud program. Poetry Out Loud is a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, and the state and jurisdictional arts agencies. The Indiana Arts Commission, which has previously administered the program, has enlisted the partnership of Indiana Humanities to deliver the program.
“Poetry Out Loud is an experience that can transform a student’s perspective and set them on a delightful and life-changing trajectory,” said Keira Amstutz, president and CEO of Indiana Humanities. “We’re grateful to the Indiana Arts Commission, Poetry Out Loud, and the Poetry Foundation for the opportunity to serve students through this program that aligns with our organization’s values of community and creativity.”
During the fall, schools are invited to hold classroom and school-wide contests, with students advancing to a state competition on March 2, 2024. Non-school organizations, such as after-school clubs, libraries, or nonprofit organizations, may also choose to run Poetry Out Loud.
Students may only compete in one stream — either with their school or organization. As part of Poetry Out Loud, the National Endowment for the Arts and Poetry Foundation also offers free, standards-based curriculum materials — all available online — which teachers may choose to use in their classrooms. These include an online poetry anthology containing more than 1,200 classic and contemporary poems, a teacher’s guide, lesson plans, posters, and videos on the art of poetry recitation. These materials are all free to access at PoetryOutLoud.org.
State champions will advance to the national finals, which are planned to take place in Washington D.C., April 30–May 2, 2024, where $50,000 in awards and school stipends will be distributed. More information will be announced in the future.
“It’s especially exciting to be picking up the torch this year following such an amazing accomplishment by Indiana’s Sreepadaarchana Munjuluri — who became not only the State Champion representing Indiana but went on to become the National Champion in May,” said Megan Telligman, director of programs at Indiana Humanities. “We intend to keep the momentum going with this year’s group of talented students.”
Sreepadaarchana Munjuluri, a junior at Columbus North High School, became the National Champion after competing in Washington D.C. during last year’s national finals. She recited poems by Emily Jungmin Yoon, Emma Lazarus, and Garrett Hongo. As National Champion, Munjuluri received a prize of $20,000. Since the program began in 2005, more than 4.1 million students across the country have participated in Poetry Out Loud.
