South Dakota's Poetry Out Loud Champion to Represent the State in National Competition

 "The Children's Hour" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is a delightful poem. It's even more delightful when performed by South Dakota's 2023 Poetry Out Loud winner.

This May, Grace Powell will compete in the Poetry Out Loud National Semifinals in Washington, D.C., but first, she joins In the Moment to talk about and read poetry.

Program Materials

Contact Rebecca Cruse, Assistant Director of the South Dakota Arts Council, at (605)773-3301 or sdac@state.sd.us if you would like to participate or learn more about this contest. (More) 

Poetry Out Loud curriculum materials include the online poetry anthology, a comprehensive teacher's guide, lesson plans, and promotional and media guides. Hard copies of materials are free for teachers participating in the official program.

While teachers, students, and poetry lovers everywhere can use this website and its free materials to organize their own contests, the official contest is limited to the programs run by each state's arts agency. If you are interested in participating in the official program, please contact your state arts agency.

POETRY CONTEST: Poetry Out Loud is a recitation program and competition that urges the teaching of poetry as an oral art form in high schools. Schools that participate in Poetry Out Loud enter students into a preliminary round, from which the state finalists are chosen. SDPB SD Poetry Out Loud Photo Archive

Poetry Out Loud was created in partnership by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, with the collaboration of State Arts Agencies. Through Poetry Out Loud, students master public-speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage.

In South Dakota, POL is a program administered by the South Dakota Arts Council, an office of the state Department of Tourism, in partnership with Arts South Dakota and South Dakota Public Broadcasting.