(Submitted photo)
The winner of last year's Poetry Out Loud competition, Drew Pirtle, who went on to nationals. (Submitted photo)
A group of Poetry Out Loud contestants from last year is shown. (Submitted photo)
Four students from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts who are competing in the third annual Poetry Out Loud competition will be featured at Wednesday Night Poetry at Kollective Coffee + Tea, 110 Central Ave.
The regular open mic session for all poets will begin at 6:30 p.m. today. The ASMSA Poetry Out Loud schoolwide competition will begin at 7:30 p.m., followed by another round of open mic. "Admission is free and open to all ages. WNP is a safe space," a news release said.
Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program "that encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high school students across the country. It helps students master public speaking skills, builds self confidence, and learn about literary figures in history," the release said.
In partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and Poetry Foundation, since 2005, POL has reached more than 4 million students and 65,000 teachers in 16,000 schools nationwide, according to the release. Schools compete internally, followed by a state-level competition, usually held by the Arkansas Arts Council. The winner of the state competition goes on to the national finals. This is ASMSA's third time to hold the competition.
This event is spearheaded by James Katowich, a humanities instructor now in his 18th year. Katowich said in the release that he decided to encourage his students to compete because poetry "is language at its most dense; accordingly, the mental work of unpacking a poem's richer or deeper meanings requires a keen sensitivity to the nuances of language. So studying poetry is obviously important to me as a teacher of literature and writing. The recitation of poetry requires a deep understanding of the text, but it also draws on skills of public speaking, which are themselves inherently valuable."
"When people are asked to name their greatest fears, speaking in public is always near the top of the list; that, I tell my students, is why people who do stand up and speak often earn our respect and admiration. I take advantage of every opportunity I can to give my students practice reading aloud, talking in class, and giving presentations, because I know that for every student there will come a time in life when they will need to stand up and express themselves. So the skills Poetry Out Loud competitions encourage are empowering because they give students the confidence and experience to command an audience," Katowich said.
The Poetry Out Loud competitors will recite one poem from memory in the first round, and one poem read off the page in the second round.
Leah Stallcup, a sophomore from Fayetteville, will recite "First Love" by John Clare and read "Invitation to Love" by Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Makenna Kutzschebauch, a sophomore from Benton, will recite "A Poison Tree" by William Blake and read "Arrhythmia" by Hailey Leithauser.
Cora H.J. Breshears, a junior from Hot Springs, will recite "The Mouse" by Ted Kooser and read "The name before the name before mine" by Jay Besemer.
Hannah Reagler, a senior from Hot Springs, will recite "Cartoon Physics, part 1" by Nick Flynn and read "For the Nefarious" by Mai Der Vang.
Hot Springs Poet Laureate and Wednesday Night Poetry Host Kai Coggin will judge the competition, alongside publisher of Gnashing Teeth Publishing, Karen Tardiff, and a member of the audience. ASMSA Japanese teacher Betty Brown will facilitate the competition.
"I'm grateful to Kai and the Wednesday Night Poetry community for hosting ASMSA's third schoolwide Poetry Out Loud competition," Katowich said.
"I'm excited about the chance to continue this relationship with WNP in part because it offers a weekly opportunity for young writers to share their work in front of an audience; my hope is that receiving genuine applause, tears, or laughter from strangers will not only provide the satisfaction one gets from being heard and understood, but also awaken in students the realization that being able to craft language and speak it aloud is a kind of power. The warm and appealing ambience of Kollective Coffee and the welcoming response from the crowd of Wednesday Night Poetry regulars make this a special experience for our students and an excellent launching pad for the winner to move on to statewide competition."
Drew Pirtle, last year's winner of ASMSA's schoolwide competition, "won over the crowd at Wednesday Night Poetry with her recitations and went on to win the state-level competition, earning a paid trip to Washington D.C. to compete nationally!" Katowich said. "We're hoping to rekindle that magic this year."
"This is a fantastic bridge we have built across the street, between the students of ASMSA and WNP, and I am thrilled to give these young Poetry Out Loud competitors a real stage and audience for their heartfelt recitations," Coggin said in the release.
"It was amazing to follow Drew's journey to the National Poetry Out Loud competition last year in Washington, D.C., knowing just months before she wowed our local crowd with her passionate delivery. What a great opportunity for these young folks to dive deeper in the inherent meaning and expression of these poems they've selected to recite. There is never enough emphasis on poetry in schools, so I am thankful to any teacher that may light this lifesaving fire in a student's heart -- to see the potential power that words hold. As an arts educator myself, I wholeheartedly thank James Katowich, Brian Isbell, and Betty Brown for providing these opportunities to students. I know it will be a special night!"
This week marks 1,825 consecutive Wednesdays of open mic poetry in downtown Hot Springs since Feb. 1, 1989.
The 35th anniversary of Wednesday Night Poetry will be celebrated at Kollective Coffee + Tea on Jan. 31. "Wednesday Night Poetry is the longest running consecutive weekly open mic series in the country," the release said. Email [email protected] for more information.
The winner of last years Poetry Out Loud competition, Drew Pirtle, who went on to nationals. (Submitted photo)
A group of Poetry Out Loud contestants from last year is shown. (Submitted photo)