- Poetry Out Loud - What is Poetry Out Loud? - How it Works/ Guidelines - 2007 Registration form (MSWord Doc)

Come celebrate a decade of Poetry Out Loud!

You and your students are invited to participate in the 10th Annual Poetry Out Loud High School Poetry Competition.

2007 Poetry Out Loud:
Saturday, April 7
UAA Campus

Registration Deadline:

March 29, 2007

Poetry Out Loud is sponsored by UAA's Department of Creative Writing and Literary Arts through the undergraduate literary journal Understory. Click for more information

How it Works:

Each team member should be prepared to read two of his/her original poems. The event is divided into two rounds -- in the first round, everyone reads. In the second round, the top teams and individuals read again and winners are chosen.

During the first round, all teams go to the podium to read. All three members from one team go to the podium together, and each poet reads one poem.

Each poem is scored individually by the judges, and the three scores are added for the team's total. The top three teams advance to the second round.

In the second round, the top three teams read again -- each student reading his/her second poem. The team with the highest score in the second round wins.

Each team has a time limit of five minutes to read their poems. Poets should time their reading beforehand to ensure they are within the limit during the contest.

The teams usually give themselves zany names (we've had the likes of "Grand Master Trash Blasters," "The Coming Irrelevance," and "The Rouge Orange Peels").

Sometimes teams dress up. For example, "The Coming Irrelevance" dressed in Victorian attire.

A team's poems do not need to follow a common theme since each poem is judged individually. Uniqueness and experimentation are encouraged.

Prizes:

First and second place winners receive prizes in both team and individual categories. The first place individual winner will have his/her poem published in Understory in addition to receiving a prize.

The winning high school team receives the honor of having its school and team name engraved on the traveling Poetry Out Loud trophy. In past years Poetry Out Loud has also benefited from additional prizes donated by local bookstores, record stores, and more.

Teachers, we hope you'll encourage your students to participate in Poetry Out Loud during National Poetry Month. In previous years, Poetry Out Loud has proved to be a lot of fun for both the teachers and the young poets they support.

Students, we hope you'll organize a team yourselves and rope a teacher into being your advisor.

Registration Deadline: March 29, 2007

Send Registration forms to:

Understory
Department of Creative Writing and Literary Arts
Attention: Lauren Sweet or Understory
3211 Providence Drive
Anchorage, AK 99508
or fax to 786-1382