About Poetry Out Loud
The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation have partnered with the Alabama State Council on the Arts to support this FREE High School program that builds students’ public speaking skills and self-confidence. Alabama participates in the National Competition, and also holds an Original Poetry Recitation Competition and an Original Social Issues Competition.
The program is FREE! Participating teachers receive free materials, including a teacher’s guide, lesson plans, and access to audio-visual materials on the art of recitation.
Alabama Champion Emily Diaz (Auburn High School) represents Alabama at the 2024 National Finals in Washington, D.C. Photo © James Kegley courtesy of Poetry Out Loud.
Awards are given to regional, state and national winners. In addition, the schools of the state and national winners receive scholarship awards.
The Alabama Writers’ Forum is the coordinator for Region 2 in Alabama, which includes the following counties: Autauga, Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Chilton, Coffee, Coosa, Crenshaw, Dale, Elmore, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Montgomery, Pike, Russell, and Tallapoosa. If you would like your high school in Region 2 to participate, please contact Associate Director Jordan Mahaffey (jordan@writersforum.org) or call us at (334) 265-7728.
To help students and teachers, Poetry Out Loud and the Alabama Arts Alliance have created a library of short educational videos that covers everything from choosing poems, to writing to interpreting, and more… Click here for POL Lesson Videos for the Classroom.
The timeline for the 2025/2026 program is:
– School competitions in November and December 2025
– Region 2 competition registration deadline in January 2026
– Region 2 competition in Montgomery in January or February 2026
– State competition in Montgomery in February or March 2026
– National competition in Washington, DC, Summer 2026
The official website is www.PoetryOutLoud.org
Please visit it to explore all the resources available.
We look forward to signing YOUR high school up
for this wonderful program!!
Thank you to all of our Region 2 competitors, schools, and teachers!
2025 Poetry Out Loud
Alabama Region 2 Competition
Congratulations to our regional competition winners!
Original Poetry Competition
1st Place: Maryam Khan, LAMP High School
2nd Place: Sadie Rainey, Opelika High School
3rd Place: Alice Maple, Lakeview Christian School
Social Issues Poetry Competition
1st Place: Lily Tao, Auburn High School
2nd Place: Namita Pradeep, LAMP High School
3rd Place: Mikayla Austin, LAMP High School
National Anthology Poetry Competition
1st Place: Annaliese Kang, Auburn High School
2nd Place: Lily Tao, Auburn High School
3rd Place: Mikayla Austin, LAMP High School
2024 Poetry Out Loud
Congratulations to all the students who competed in Alabama’s Poetry Out Loud 2024 State Finals at Alabama Shakespeare Festival!
The Social Issue Poetry winner was Lily Tao, Auburn High School, and the runner up was Daryl Thomas, BTW Magnet High School.
Maryam Khan, LAMP Magnet High School, took second place in the National Anthology Poetry competition. Congratulations!!!
Alabama Region 2 Competition (2024)
Twenty two students from 6 Alabama high schools participated in the Poetry out Loud Alabama Region 2 Competition on February 5 in Montgomery. We were very impressed with all the students and the judges had a tough job this year. The winners in the 3 categories (national anthology, original, and social issue poetry) were: Emily Biaz of Auburn High School won the anthology poetry category (for the 3rd year in a row!!), Audrey Miller of Lakeview Christian School won the original poetry category, and Daryl Thomas of BTW Magnet High School won the social issue category.
The following students scored in the top 5 of each category and are eligible to compete in the State Competition on March 6:
Emily Biaz (Auburn High School), Anita Duncan (Opelika High School), Zuriyah Fishoe (Lamp Magnet High School), Maryam Khan (Lamp Magnet High School), Audrey Miller (Lakeview Christian School), Atticus O’Banner (Opelika High School), Namita Pradeep (Lamp Magnet High School), Daryl Thomas (BTW Magnet High School), Madison Thompson (BTW Magnet High School), and Lily Tao (Auburn High School).
