Rose Horowitz of Mt. Ararat High School won the 2016 Poetry Out Loud competition on March 15 at the Waterville Opera House.

Horowitz recited three poems: “In the Basement of the Goodwill Store” by Ted Kooser, “Mrs. Caldera’s House of Things” by Gregory Djanikian, and “On An Unsociable Family” by Elizabeth Hands.

Owen Sinclair from Rangeley Lakes Regional School was the runner-up. Both students will receive cash awards and their schools will receive prize money to purchase poetry books for their libraries.

As the Maine State Champion, Horowitz will represent Maine at the National Poetry Out Loud Finals to be held May 2–4 in Washington, D.C. where students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico will compete for the national title and a total of $50,000 in awards, including a grand prize of $20,000, and school stipends for the purchase of poetry. All prizes, as well as all materials for running this popular program in high schools across the nation, come from the National Endowment for the Arts and their partner in Poetry Out Loud, the Poetry Foundation.

Other state finalists included Shiloh Munsen of Freeport High School and Sylvia Holland of Maine Coast Waldorf School.

Poetry Out Loud is sponsored annually at the state level by the Maine Arts Commission. This year’s competition included almost 10,000 students from 46 Maine high schools.

The Times Record Sustaining Sponsor
We believe a community must be informed to thrive. bowdoin.edu