‘The night is come, but not too soon”: March 14 finals set for NH Poetry Out Loud competition

One of New Hampshire’s key spring events for high schoolers is set to take place on March 14, when the top competitors from the state’s 2025 Poetry Out Loud program gather for the state finals at Representatives Hall at the State House in Concord.

The champion will then have the opportunity to represent New Hampshire at the national Poetry Out Loud championship scheduled for May 5-7 in Washington, D.C.

Poetry Out Loud begins at the classroom level, when students choose selections to memorize and recite from the program’s collection of more than 1,300 poems. Their performances are judged not only for accuracy, but also for voice and articulation, interpretation and other factors.

Each participating high school and school group can then send their champion to the state semi-finals. This year, 11 semi-finalists have advanced to the state championship.

“For twenty years, Poetry Out Loud has brought poetry directly to students – it meets them where they are, in the classroom,” said Adele Sicilia, director of the N.H. State Council on the Arts, which administers the program in New Hampshire. “The program allows students to experience poetry and learn about poets on their own terms, finding poems that are meaningful to them and their lives, developing analytical and public speaking skills along the way.

“The finals are such a celebration of all that these students have accomplished and a preview of the successes they will have later in life,” she added.

New Hampshire’s finals competition takes place in two stages. In the first, each student recites two poems that are rated by a panel of judges. Four students with the highest scores then advance to a final round, where they will recite a third poem. Scores from all three rounds are tallied to determine New Hampshire’s champion.

The competition begins promptly at 5 p.m. and is open to the public. It will be livestreamed on the N.H. State Council on the Arts’ Facebook account, facebook.com/NHArtsCouncil.

Funding for Poetry Out Loud is provided by the Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. In New Hampshire, additional support comes from Brightspot Consultants; the Currier Museum of Art; the Frost Place; North Country Education Services; the Putnam Foundation, a donor-advised fund of the N.H. Charitable Foundation and Slam Free or Die.

There is no cost to students or schools to participate.

To learn more about Poetry Out Loud in New Hampshire, visit nharts.dncr.nh.gov/programs/poetry-out-loud. 

The N.H. State Council on the Arts, a division of the N.H. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, enhances the quality of life in New Hampshire by stimulating economic growth through the arts, investing in the creativity of students, making the arts accessible to underserved populations and preserving heritage arts. Learn more about the N.H. State Council on the Arts at nharts.dncr.nh.gov.

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