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Arts Commission News

Mississippi Arts Commission Announces 2007 Poetry Out Loud State Finals

DATE:             February 28, 2007

CONTACT:     Susan Dobbs, Public Relations Director                                      601-359-6031 or sdobbs@arts.state.ms.us

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

JACKSON—The Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) has announced the state finals for Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest.  The Competition, presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Poetry Foundation, is part of a national program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance and competition.  On Friday, March 23 at 1:00 pm, students from across the state will participate in the Poetry Out Loud state finals at New Stage Theatre in Jackson.

Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high schools across the country.  Beginning at the classroom level, winners advance to a school-wide competition, then to the state competition, and ultimately advance to the National Finals in Washington, DC.  More than 100,000 students across the country are expected to take part in Poetry Out Loud this year.

 At the finals, contestants will recite works selected from an anthology of more than 500 classic and contemporary poems.  The NEA and the Poetry Foundation created a standards-based teacher’s guide, a comprehensive website, and a CD featuring poetry recitations by well-known actors and writers such as Anthony Hopkins, Alyssa Milano, N. Scott Momaday and Rita Dove.

“The fact that there are three times as many schools competing this year shows the success of last year’s competition,” states Kim Whitt, Arts in Education Director for the Mississippi Arts Commission.  “Teachers across the state are excited about making poetry a part of their regular curriculum.”

The winner of the Poetry Out Loud Mississippi finals will receive $200, and the winner’s school will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books.  One runner-up will receive $100, with $200 for his or her school library.  The state Champion of the Poetry Out Loud Mississippi final will receive an all expenses-paid trip (with a chaperone) to compete in the National Finals in Washington, DC, on April 30-May 1, 2007.  The National Finals will award a total of $50,000 in scholarships and school stipends, with a $20,000 college scholarship for the Poetry Out Loud National Champion.

The Poetry Out Loud Mississippi finals will take place on Friday, March 23 at 1:00 pm at New Stage Theatre in Jackson.  The keynote speaker for the event will be Natasha Trethewey.  Ms. Trethewey’s first collection of poetry, Domestic Work, won the inaugural 1999 Cave Canem poetry prize, a Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Book Prize, and the 2001 Lillian Smith Award for Poetry.  She has taught at Auburn University, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Duke University and is currently the Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts by bringing arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education.  Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Arts Endowment is the largest national funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases.

The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture.  One of the largest literary organizations in the world, it exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience.

The Mississippi Arts Commission is a state agency, funded by the Mississippi legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Wallace Foundation and other private sources.  MAC is the official grants making and service agency for the arts in Mississippi. The agency serves as an active supporter and promoter of arts in community life and in arts education.

The event is free and open to the public.   For more information contact Kim Whitt at 601/359-6037 or at kwhitt@arts.state.ms.us.

 

 

 

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