April was truly a month of poetry and celebration. On April 27-29, student champions from each state and jurisdictions competed in the Poetry Out Loud National Finals held in Washington D.C. In recognition of America’s 250th anniversary this year, students chose poems to recite that reflected America’s rich and diverse culture and history. Jayda Dawn, an 11th grader at University High School of Indiana in Carmel, Indiana was named the 2026 Poetry Out Loud National Champion. She will receive the prize of $20,000.
Congrats to the second-place 2026 Poetry Out Loud winner, Damien Deen, a 12th grade student at Washington High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, who receives a $10,000 prize. A special shout out goes to third-place winner, Jaden Conley, a 12th grade student at Niles West High School in Skokie, Illinois, who receives a $5,000 prize. Conely was the 2026 Champion of both the Suburban Chicagoland Regionals and Illinois State Competition.
The other six national finalists were Cassie Lumba (Alaska), Mallory Lott (Louisiana), Hadas Frish (New Mexico), Astrid Santos (Rhode Island), Oona Borovicka (South Carolina), and Joeltica Rogers (U.S. Virgin Islands). Each receives a $1,000 prize. The schools or organizations representing the top nine finalists each receive $500 to purchase poetry materials. Mid Atlantic Arts administers the Poetry Out Loud National Semifinals and Finals as well all aspects of the monetary prizes awarded.
Since the program began in 2005, more than 4.5 million students and 85,000 teachers from 21,000 schools and organizations across the nation have participated in Poetry Out Loud. As a national program, Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through analysis, memorization, performance, and competition. The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, in conjunction with state arts agencies, support this nation-wide program with participants from all fifty states plus Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American, Samoa, and Puerto Rico.
For more information, please visit https://www.poetryoutloud.org/
