DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities: Poetry Out Loud

Register here for Poetry Out Loud 2008-09.*

Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest is an exciting program taking place in high schools nationwide. The 2008-09 school year will mark Poetry Out Loud's fourth year as a national competition and its growth is due to the resurgence of poetry as an oral art form, as demonstrated by the slam poetry movement. Poetry Out Loud is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. It was successfully piloted in Chicago and Washington DC in 2005, and expanded to include the capital region of every state in 2006. The program encourages the nation's high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance, helping them to internalize and perpetuate our rich literary heritage while mastering public speaking skills and building self-confidence.

As the Arts Education Coordinator for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Joe Angel Babb will coordinate the state competition for the District of Columbia. It is the DC Arts Commission's hope that every high school in the District will participate. The contest structure is similar to a spelling bee, with classroom, school-wide, and state level competitions. Each school can only have one student participant in the state finals. The District of Columbia champion will compete with 51 other state champions at the Nationals in April 2009.

If you are interested in participating in Poetry Out Loud during the 2008-09 school year, or would like to learn more about the program, please Email Kendall Ladd or call (202) 724-5613. She is available to visit your school to talk with interested teachers and/or administrators about the Poetry Out Loud project.

For tips on how to organize the contest and project at your school, please visit the National Endowment for the Arts website.

Poetry Out Loud Professional Development Workshop
October 6, 2008 from 5:30-8 pm. Location TBA
DC Public and Public Charter high school teachers are invited to this invigorating standards-based workshop to learn how to integrate poetry as a performance art into your classroom curriculum. Only 2 teachers per campus may participate. The workshop will be facilitated by Master Teacher Artist, Taylor Mali.

Taylor Mali is a teacher and poet. Generally considered to be the most successful poetry slam strategist of all time, having led six of his seven national poetry slam teams to the finals stage and winning the championship itself a record four times before anyone had even tied him at three, Mali was one of the original poets to appear on the HBO original series "Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry." He was also the "golden-tongued, Armani clad villain" of Paul Devlin's 1997 documentary film "SlamNation," which chronicled the National Poetry Slam Championship of 1996, the year of Mali's first national team championship.

A native of New York City and vocal advocate of teachers and the nobility of teaching, Mali himself spent nine years in the classroom teaching everything from English and history to math SAT test preparation. He has performed and lectured for teachers all over the world. Mali received a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant in 2001 to develop "Teacher! Teacher!" a one-man show about poetry, teaching, and math which won the jury prize for best solo performance at the 2001 US Comedy Arts Festival. Learn more about Taylor Mali.

Poetry Out Loud Teen Workshop for DC Public and Public Charter High School Students
December 15, 2008 from 5:30-8 pm Location TBA
Please join the 2007 National Champion and Duke Ellington graduate, Amanda Fernandez, for this exciting, participatory, student focused workshop to help students connect personally to poetry and publicly share their passion for words and images.

Poetry Out Loud Teacher Meeting and Deadline for School Champions
February 6, 2009 5-6:30 pm
(Each school must determine the school champion before this date.)
DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities
1371 Harvard Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
(Near the Columbia Heights Metro Station)

Poetry Out Loud DC State Finals Check-in and Rehearsal
February 21 or 22, 2009 Location and Time TBA

Poetry Out Loud DC State Competition and Reception
February 23, 2009 4-10 pm
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
641 D Street NW
Washington, DC 20004
(Near the Archives/Navy Memorial Metro Station)