Poetry Out Loud

2023 Maryland State Champion and 3rd Place National Winner Madison Harris reciting a poem at the 2023 National Poetry Out Loud Competition in Washington, Photo by James Kegley. Poetry Out Loud Bringing poetry to life through performance Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry through recitation competitions for high school students across the country. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life. Since 2005, Poetry Out Loud is a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Foundation, and the state and jurisdictional arts agencies. Beginning in 2025-26, Mid Atlantic Arts will be taking over the program and operational functions formerly provided by the Poetry Foundation. The program starts with competitions held at the local level in a classroom or school, or with a community organization. Winners then advance to a regional and state competition, and ultimately to the national finals. Awards and placements are determined solely by the judges’ scores based on the Poetry Out Loud Evaluation Criteria (see the "POL Resources" section below). Students that are not able to participate in a local level competition may register to participate directly in a regional competition. Since 2005, 4.1 million students and 68,000 teachers from 17,000 schools and organizations have competed in Poetry Out Loud nationwide. In Maryland, approximately 129,000 students have participated in the program and learned the power of poetry firsthand. Please visit the Poetry Out Loud website to learn more about the national program. 2025-26 Poetry Out Loud Overview 2025-26 Competition MSAC will be collaborating with Maryland Humanities to implement Maryland's Poetry Out Loud program during the 2025-26 year. This year, Poetry Out Loud will focus on America250, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, featuring American poets and poems. Who: Poetry Out Loud is open to all high school students. When: Schools and organizations need to host their local competition by Friday, January 16, 2026. Regional and state competitions typically take place in February and early March 2026. Dates and locations for regional and state competitions are available in the "Competition Levels" accordion below. How: Students select three poems from the Poetry Anthology to recite during their assigned competition. For the 2025-26 year, all poems are in the public domain and students do not need to select a poem that is 25 lines or fewer or a pre-20th century poem, as previously required. Awards: There will be monetary prizes for the students who place 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the regional and state competitions. At the national finals, a total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends is awarded annually. If you have questions, please contact Lizzie Morales, Arts in Education Program Director, at [email protected] and Aditya Desai, Program Officer for Literature at Maryland Humanities, at [email protected] . Competition Levels Regional The top students from each local (school or community) competition will be invited to participate in a regional competition. Independent students or homeschooled students may register to participate directly in the regional competitions. Students participating in the competitions will recite poetry for a panel of judges. Baltimore-central region February 14, 2026 2 - 4 Towson University Center for the Arts, Studio Theatre 7700 Osler Drive Towson, MD 21204 Event directions (Google Maps) West-central region February 21, 2026 2 - 4 Delaplaine Arts Center Gardiner Hall 40 South Carroll Street Frederick, MD 21701 Event directions (Google Maps) South-central region February 22, 2026 2:30 - 4:30 Oxon Hill Branch Library, PGCML 6200 Oxon Hill Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 Event directions (Google Maps) State