A Marshall County High School student is among 16 champions who will advance to the Poetry Out Loud state competition March 13 at the Grand Theatre in Frankfort.
Morgan Price will compete against fellow champions for a chance at the state championship and advancement to the Poetry Out Loud national finals April 23-25 at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Poetry Out Loud is a poetry recitation contest sponsored by the Kentucky Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Each student, in the first and second round, is judged on the recitation of two poems. Five finalists will be judged on the recitation of a third poem. All poems are selected by the students and their teachers from a preapproved anthology of works.
The school champions, listed by name, school and county are:
Suzanne M. Daniels, Allen County-Scottsville High School, Allen
Angelica Murphy, Augusta Independent School, Bracken
Brianna Bradford, Betsy Layne High School, Floyd
Blanca Aleman, Bowling Green High School, Warren
Trent Joseph Litteral, Boyd County High School, Boyd
Leann Goodman, Central Hardin High School, Hardin
Cameron Drew, Conner High School, Boone
Kiara Jones, Elizabethtown High School, Hardin
Emma Mitmesser, George Rogers Clark High School, Clark
MacKenzie Ray, Grant County High School, Grant
Emilia Marks, Hart County High School, Hart
James Ray Hall, Jenkins Middle High School, Letcher
Morgan Price, Marshall County High School, Marshall
Jillian Smith, McCracken County High School, McCracken
Cody Baynori, Newport High School, Campbell
Luke Wheatley, Saint Xavier High School, Jefferson
Judges for this year’s state competition are Frederick Smock, current Kentucky Poet Laureate and professor of English at Bellarmine University in Louisville; George Ella Lyon, Kentucky Poet Laureate for 2015-17 and author of the acclaimed poem “Where I’m From,” which is used as a model for poetry writing in classrooms around the world; and Crystal Wilkinson, multiple award-winning author, Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship recipient and the Kentucky Arts Council’s featured artist for March and April 2018.
For more information about the Poetry Out Loud program in Kentucky, contact Jean St. John, arts council arts education director, at 502-892-3124 or jean.stjohn@ky.gov.