Poets To Face Off At Souhegan

Souhegan students will battle this week, not with weapons, but with spoken word.

Eighteen finalists will compete in the Poetry Out Loud School-wide Final on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. in the Souhegan High School Theater. Parents and community members are welcome to attend.

The competition, presented in partnership with the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and 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.

The winner and runner-up of Souhegan’s final competition on Thursday will each win four-year $15,000 renewable merit scholarships from New England College. The winner also advances to the Regional contest in March.

The New Hampshire champion will advance to the Poetry Out Loud National Finals in April in Washington, DC, where $50,000 dollars in awards and school prizes will be distributed. Last year, Souhegan’s first year hosting the competition, freshman Olivia Vordenberg  represented the state of New Hampshire at the national competition in Washington, D.C.

Nearly 800 Souhegan students chose, analyzed, memorized and performed from memory a published poem from Poetry Out Loud’s online anthology.

English teachers in grades 9-12 linked the project to their curriculum. World Literature students choose poems by non-American poets, 9th graders choose poems based on the themes they are studying in literature, and AP English students choose from a selection of English Romantic poets.

For further information, contact Jeanne Sturges at jsturges@sprise.com or 673-9940.