Welcome to day two of National Arts in Education Week with the Arizona Commission on the Arts! Today, we look at Poetry Out Loud.
Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program and recitation contest for high-school students and teachers that seeks to foster the next generation of literary readers by capitalizing on the latest trends in poetry – recitation and performance. The National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation partner with state arts agencies to bring the Poetry Out Loud program and dynamic recitation contest to all 50 states and the US territories.
In Arizona, Poetry out Loud is administered by our partners at the University of Arizona Poetry Center. For more information about Poetry Out Loud, visit the Poetry Center’s website.
In 2020, the young creatives of RE:FRAME Youth Arts Center and Creative Youth of Arizona produced this video on the program featuring that year’s State Finalists.
Register for 2027 Poetry Out Loud
Teachers and educators who would like to participate register themselves for the program – one registration per school/organization. Once registered, each participating teacher/school receives access to free multimedia curriculum materials – a poetry anthology, teacher’s guide, poetry books and comprehensive website all aligned to national standards – augmenting their regular poetry curriculum with poetry recitation and a classroom-level competition. School-level recitation champions compete to advance to the regional, state and then national levels.
Registration closes October 31, 2026
Banner image: 2020 Arizona Poetry Out Loud State Champion Sylvia Dale.
