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Thursday, March 14, 2013

NEWS: Devon Jones of West Jordan High School Wins State Poetry Out Loud Finals

Devin Jones of West Jordan High School
Wins State Poetry Out Loud Finals
Tony Madrid of East Hollywood High School named runner-up

SALT LAKE CITY - Devin Jones of West Jordan High School took home top honors from the state finals for the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest, presented by Utah Arts & Museums on Tuesday, March 12, 2013, at the Black Box Theatre in the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center. Jones will receive $200 and travel expenses to represent Utah in the national championship in April in Washington, D.C. His school will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. Runner-up Tony Madrid of East Hollywood High School in West Valley City will receive $100, with $200 for his school library. Poetry Out Loud will award a $20,000 college scholarship to the national champion.

Approximately 3,549 students from 26 high schools around the state participated in Poetry Out Loud activities and competed in school and regional competitions. Regional competitions were held in the Uintah Basin, Iron County, Utah County, Sanpete County, and the southern end of Salt Lake County. Schools unable to participate in a regional competition competed in a preliminary competition held in the afternoon prior to the state finals. At the Black Box Theatre, students recited works they selected from an anthology of nearly 600 classic and contemporary poems. Students competing at the Rose Wagner included:

Tony Madrid, East Hollywood High School (West Valley City)
Jenney Kim, Hurricane High School (Hurricane)
Elizabeth Malone, Lehi High School (Lehi)
Rowan Hadlock, North Sanpete High School (Mt. Pleasant)
Joshua Graham, Union High School (Roosevelt)
Devin Jones, West Jordan High School (West Jordan)

This was the first time participating in Poetry Out Loud for state champion Jones, a junior; he said it was his first time performing onstage, period. "I read a lot of poems, and then I picked the ones I understood, the ones that spoke to me the most," he noted. He worked without a coach, studying each line carefully and thinking about the emotions behind the lines. His poems were "Alone," by Edgar Allan Poe; "Across the Bay," by Donald Davie; and "The Oldest Living Thing in L.A.," by Larry Levis. His advice to future competitors: "Practice your poem over and over, until you can say it without thinking about it."

Judges were Kim Burningham, Paula Fowler, Todd Robert Petersen and Jennifer Tonge. The judges use a comprehensive scoring rubric provided by the competition sponsors, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Competitors were judged on their physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness of the performance, level of poem difficulty, evidence of poem understanding, and overall performance. In addition, accuracy judges score the students on how precisely they recite the poems.
"These students are so remarkable," said Margaret Hunt, Utah Arts & Museums Director. "Their compelling performances of these literary masterworks are a delight to watch. We´re very proud of them, and each one deserves our sincere congratulations."
Justine Haka of the Poetry Foundation, one of the national sponsors of the competition, attended the state finals and echoed Hunt´s comments, noting that "the quality of the students competing in Utah is very high."

Utah has had four finalists in the national top ten. Last year, senior MarKaye Hassan of Logan High School took third place in the national finals. She competed against 53 state champions. Of those champions, nine finalists competed in the finals. Hassan received the third-place prize and a $5,000 award. She was also invited to return to Washington, D.C., to recite at the National Book Festival. In 2008, Skyline High School senior Madison Niermeyer also placed third at the national competition and received a $5,000 scholarship award. Niermeyer was contacted by noted Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti to congratulate her on her recitation of his poem "I Am Waiting."

The state finals were a festive event, with Utah actress Anne Cullimore Decker serving as the emcee and the Daniel Day Trio providing music during the breaks. Winners were congratulated by Department of Heritage and Arts Executive Director Julie Fisher. The audience was treated to poetry recitations by Utah Poet Laureate Lance Larsen and by Utah poets Mike Dorrell and Willy Palomo.

Poetry Out Loud, presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, is part of a national program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition. Poetry Out Loud seeks to foster the next generation of literary readers across the nation by capitalizing on trends in poetry recitation and performance. The program builds on the resurgence of poetry as an oral art form by inviting the dynamic aspects of slam poetry, the spoken word, and theatre into the English classroom. Through Poetry Out Loud, students master public-speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage. For information on participating in next year´s event, contact Jean Tokuda Irwin at 801.533.5760 or jirwin@utah.gov.
Photo: Devin Jones. Photo by Kent Miles. Additional photos available upon request.


About Utah Arts & Museums
Utah Arts & Museums is a division of the Utah Department of Heritage and Arts with a goal to promote innovation in and the growth of Utah´s arts and culture community. The division provides funding, education, and technical services to individuals and organizations statewide so that all Utahns, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity or economic status, can access, understand, and receive the benefits of arts and culture. Additional information on the programs and services can be found at artsandmuseums.utah.gov or by calling 801.236.7555.

About Poetry Out Loud
The National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation and state arts agencies work together to bring Poetry Out Loud to high schools across the United States. After successful pilot programs in Washington, D.C., and Chicago, the second phase of Poetry Out Loud was launched nationwide in the spring of 2006 with tens of thousands of students participating. More information about Poetry Out Loud can be found at www.poetryoutloud.org

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Alyssa Hickman Grove
Constituent Relations & Media
617 E. South Temple, SLC, UT 84102
Phone: 801.236.7548

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