FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Alabama’s Poetry Out Loud State Champion
Emily Biaz will compete in national finals in Washington, D.C.

MONTGOMERY, Ala., (March 22, 2023) — Alabama State Council on the Arts is pleased to announce that Emily Biaz, a student at Auburn High School, is the 2023 Alabama Poetry Out Loud™ champion.

Thousands of high school educators integrate Poetry Out Loud into their curriculum every year. The competition, presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts 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. Since the program began in 2005, more than 4.1 million students and 68,000 teachers from 17,000 schools across the country have participated in Poetry Out Loud.

On March 3, the Council on the Arts hosted the Poetry Out Loud State Finals at Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Nearly 30 high school students from all over the state performed poems in three categories: Original composition, Social Issue Original composition, and the National Anthology recitation competition. Guest judges included Barbara Wiedmann, Joseph Cook, Destiny Tubbs, and Kent Quaney.

“Poetry Out Loud is a wonderful example of a partnership between federal, state, and local arts organizations that engages students across Alabama,” said Dr. Elliot Knight, executive director of Alabama State Council on the Arts. “We are thankful for the support and leadership of the National Endowment for the Arts and are proud of all our Alabama students who made it to the state finals and participated this year.”

National Poetry Out Loud Competition

First place in Alabama’s Poetry Out Loud National Anthology Competition went to Emily Biaz (Auburn High School). Emily will represent the state of Alabama at the National Finals competition held in Washington D.C. in early May.

Elizabeth ‘Egg’ McClure, a student at Alabama School of Fine Arts, was first runner-up, and Nalin Reed, also a student at Alabama School of Fine Arts, was named second runner-up.

Alabama Original Poetry Competitions

Alabama is one of the few states that includes an original poetry competition within its state poetry finals Anita Duncan (Opelika High School) was selected as the original poetry winner. Second place went Aliyah Potter (Lee High School – Huntsville) and Daryl R. Thomas Jr. (Booker T. Washington Magnet High School) took third.

Also, as part of the original poetry competition, students were encouraged to write and recite an original poem addressing any topic relevant to their life. Anita Duncan (Opelika High School) was also awarded first place in the Social Issue category. Elizabeth ‘Egg’ McClure (Alabama School of Fine Arts) placed second, and Destini Appleton (Lee High School – Huntsville) came in third.

For additional information about this program, please contact Kaci Norman, Arts in Education program manager for Alabama State Council on the Arts, at 334-242-5148 or kaci@arts.alabama.gov.

###

About Alabama State Council on the Arts
The Council on the Arts is the official state agency for the support and development of the arts in Alabama. The Council works to expand and preserve the state’s cultural resources by supporting nonprofit arts organizations, schools, colleges, units of local government, and individual artists. Arts programs, assisted by Council grants, have a track record of enhancing community development, education, cultural tourism, and overall quality of life in all regions of the state.Alabama State Council on the Arts grants are made possible by an annual appropriation from the Alabama Legislature and additional funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Learn more at arts.alabama.gov.

About Poetry Out Loud™
A partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, and the state and jurisdictional arts agencies, Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high schools across the country.