The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation have partnered with the Utah Arts & Museums Arts Education Program to support Poetry Out Loud, which encourages Utah’s youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance.

About Poetry out Loud
POL uses a pyramid structure that starts at the classroom level. Every school winner or individual student (if home-schooled or individually participating) must compete at a regional level competition. Regional competitions take place throughout February. Each region will advance one winner to the state final competition in March.

For details regarding Utah’s POL activities, email Jean Irwin at jirwin@utah.gov or call 801.236.7559.

For full details on the national poetry recitation competition, visit www.poetryoutloud.org.

Recitation and performance are major trends in poetry. There has been a recent resurgence of poetry as an oral art form, as seen in the slam poetry movement and the immense popularity of hip-hop music. Poetry Out Loud builds on that momentum by inviting the dynamic aspects of slam poetry, spoken word, and theater into the English and theatre class.

The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation releases pleliminary findings about the efficacy of Poetry Out Loud for students. POL Evaluation Study findings: Patricia Moore Shaffer, PhD, Deputy Director of Research & Analysis at the NEA.
•          Key Findings: Academic Engagement
•          Key Findings: Social-Emotional Development
•          Key Findings: Poetry Appreciation & Engagement