An Agency of State Government
Now in its sixteenth year, the 2020-21 Montana Poetry Out Loud program welcomes the participation of high schools across our state! Created and supported by the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Poetry Foundation, Poetry Out Loud engages students in learning about poetry through the memorized recitations of works by recognized poets, both contemporary and from throughout history. Through their participation students gain public speaking skills while finding their own voice. Beginning in individual classrooms, students have the opportunity to advance to schoolwide contests, regional competitions, the Montana State Finals and—for one Montana student—the National Poetry Out Loud Finals, a virtual competition in the spring of 2021. To learn more about the program or to explore the online anthology, visit poetryoutloud.org
Montana Poetry Out Loud Competition 2021
Timeline for 2020-21:
- February: Regional competitions held the week of February 22-26, 2021
- March: The Montana Poetry Out Loud State Finals will be held virtually, on March 12, 2021 with the semifinal rounds at 4 p.m. and the final round at 7 p.m.
- The 2021 POL National Semifinals will take place on Sunday, May 2nd and the 2021 POL National Finals will take place on Thursday, May 27th and will be streamed on arts.gov.
To view the Montana Poetry Out Loud State Finals:
View Finals here. AVAILABLE NOW!! | View competition program here.
View Semifinals here. AVAILABLE NOW!
Here are the 2021 Montana Poetry Out Loud Winners!
State Champion: Brady Drummond
Second Place: Anna Christensen
Third Place: Molly Tingey
Fourth Place: Ellis Mastel
Fifth Place: Zoe Belinda
Here are the top five (plus an alternate) from each POL Regional event:
North West | North Central Regional
- Molly Tingey
- Anna Christensen
- Brady Drummond
- Anabella Smith
- Charlotte Maher
*Alternate: Isabella Shinn
South West | South Central Regional
- Zoe Belinda
- Ellis Mastel
- JayJay Fields
- Jasmine Pearson
- Eden Maxwell
*Alternate: Shaylee Quenzer
Congratulations to all competitors!
POL Northwest and Northcentral Belt/Flathead/Polson
POL Southwest and Southcentral Hellgate/Red Lodge/Thompson Falls
To indicate your interest in participating in this year’s program, please provide your contact information here. A member of the Montana Arts Council staff will follow up with you.
For questions or further conversation, please contact Monica Grable, Montana Poetry Out Loud Coordinator at (406) 444-6522 or Monica.Grable@mt.gov.
Timeline for 2020-21:
- November: participants students are identified, work begins in classrooms (or clubs), students select poems for memorization and recitation
- December: classroom (or club) competitions are held, schools register to participate in regionals by December 10
- January: classroom competitions continue, schoolwide events take place by January 27, students registered for regional event participation by January 29
- February: Regional competitions held the week of February 8-12 (each school will be assigned to a regional competition following registration in December)
- March: State Finals will be held virtually, on March 7, 2021
- April/May: National Finals will take place virtually, TBD
About Poetry Out Loud
Participation
Past State Champions
Poetry Out Loud Website
Montana Arts Council | 830 N. Warren Street, Helena, MT 59601 | P.O. Box 202201, Helena, MT 59620-2201
P: (406) 444-6430 | F: (406) 444-6548 | mac@mt.gov Contact Us
The Montana Arts Council is funded by the State of Montana and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.