Langston Ward, with an impassioned delivery of Kenneth Rexroth’s poem, “The Bad Old Days,” has won the NEA’s 2013 Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest. Ward received a prize of $20,000, and Mead High School in Spokane, WA, where Ward is a senior, received a stipend of $500 for the purchase of poetry books. When asked why he chose that particular poem, Ward said, “when I read it, the message that justice deserves attention, that’s something I want to communicate. The poem was calling me.” Langston Ward’s journey to Poetry Out Loud champion began last September when the competition opened to approximately 375,000 participating students from 2,000 high schools from each state in the US.

Blessed Sherriff, of Maryland, won second place winning $10,000. Denise L. Burns, of Oklahoma, received the third place prize and $5,000. Nine finalists each received $1,000 and their schools received $500 each for the purchase of poetry books.

The Poetry Out Loud National Finals were held at George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium on May 5, 2013. The host for the event was playwright/actress Anna Deavere Smith. Guest judges were poets Patricia Smith and Eduardo Corral; BBC Correspondent Jane O’Brien; Kevin Dyels, director of Interpreting Services Division of TCS Associates; and Tree Swenson, executive director of the Richard Hugo House in Seattle Washington. Patrice Walker Powell, Deputy Chairman for National Endowment for the Arts and Stephen Young, Poetry Foundation Program Director, announced the award.

The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation have supported Poetry Out Loud by partnering with U.S. state arts agencies to cultivate the contest’s success since its inception in 2006. The championship provides a venue for the nation’s youth to familiarize themselves with great works of poetry via memorization and recitation, improving students’ public speaking skills and building self- confidence as they gain knowledge of their literary tradition.

Photo Credit: James Kegley

Source: http://www.nea.gov/news/news13/2013-POL-FInals-Winners.html