Poetry Out Loud Comes to Portsmouth Abbey School [VIDEO]

Eighteen students participated in the School's Poetry Out Loud competition on Jan. 23.

Each student recited one poem from a selection in the Poetry Out Loud anthology and was evaluated by a panel of faculty members that included Mr. Jay Bragan, Ms. Emma Stenberg, Mrs. Kate Smith, Mrs. Laureen Bonin and Dr. Michael Bonin.

Tiernan O'Rourke '15 won the competition with his playful version of Billy Collins' "Snow Day" and will represent Portsmouth Abbey at the Rhode Island state competition on March 10.

Emmett Conway '12 placed second with his humorous rendition of Julie Sheehan's "Hate Poem," Lucas Indeglia '12 was third with a solemn recitation of Charles Bukowski's "Dinosauria, We" and Nahyung Kim '12 received an honorable mention award for her very likeable impression of a canine in  Mark Doty's "Golden Retrievals." Tiernan, Emmett and Lucas will each recite for the student body at an upcoming assembly.

In the competition, students are not permitted to use costumes or props and must rely on the strength of their recitations alone. The state and national finals consist of three rounds of competition in which the students must recite a different poem.

The national finals will take place May 13-15 at the Harman Center for the Arts in Washington, D.C., and will include well-known poets, actors and performers as guest judges. The national competition awards more than $35,000 in prizes to its top winners and also gives stipends to the winners' schools for the purchase of poetry books.

For more information, please visit the Poetry Out Loud Web site at PoetryOutLoud.org.