Akhei Togun, a seventeen-year-old senior at Tallwood High School in Virginia Beach, VA, won the 2016 Poetry Out Loud National Champion title at the annual Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest last week.

Togun won the final round with his recitation of “Bereavement” by William Lisle Bowles, taking home $20,000.

The Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts sponsor The Poetry Out Loud program—founded in 2005—to encourage the study of poetry through memorization. Poetry Out Loud says its program “helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage.”

The other winners included second-place winner, Marta Palombo, 18, of Cambridge High School in Alpharetta, GA, and third-place winner, Nicholas Amador, 15, at Punahou High School in Honolulu, HI.

The second and third place winners received $10,000 and $5,000 respectively, and six additional finalists each received $1,000.

The National Endowment for the Arts also announced its winner of the new Poetry Ourselves program, which allowed state champions to show off their own creative writing skills. The winners, judged by poet Patricia Smith, included Rose Horowitz, a senior at Mt. Ararat High School in Harpswell, ME, and Maddie Lukomski, a junior at Sioux Falls Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls, SD—whose work you can read or watch.

Watch Togun’s recitation of “I’m a Fool to Love You” by Cornelius Eady, and read the text of the poem.

Photo Credit: Poetry Out Loud.