Illinois High Schools Invited to Participate in Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest

The Illinois Arts Council and our regional partners statewide invite all Illinois high schools to participate in the 2010-11 Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest, a free national program created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Now entering its 6th year of national competition, Poetry Out Loud has inspired hundreds of thousands of students to discover a broad spectrum of classic and contemporary poetry. 

Poetry Out Loud will award more than $100,000 to state- and national-level winners in total this year. National Finals will award a total of $50,000 in cash awards and school stipends for the purchase of poetry books, and each state-level contest awards $1,000 in cash prizes to the champion, runner-up, and their schools.

Free Poetry Out Loud materials are available for participating schools, including print and online poetry anthologies, a teacher's guide to help instructors teach recitation and performance, an audio CD featuring distinguished actors and writers, promotional and media guides, and a comprehensive website.

The 2010-2011 academic year deadline will be December 15, 2010. Interested teachers please visit www.arts.illinois.gov/poetry-out-loud for a full list of regional partners and more, and contact the Illinois Arts Council's Poetry Out Loud partnering organization nearest you to participate.

All curriculum materials and further detail regarding the program are also available on the Poetry Out Loud website: www.poetryoutloud.org .

This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation is also honored to provide travel support for regional and state finals of Poetry Out Loud in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.