News

Meet the 2021 POL State Finalists and Judges

From Michelle Sipes, Arts Learning Specialist –

The 2021 Tennessee Poetry Out Loud (POL) Contest will be held virtually via a live broadcast on the TN Arts Commission’s YouTube page and Facebook on Friday, March 12, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. CST.  The event is free and open to the public.

Please tune in with us to watch some remarkable poetry recitations and to find out who will be this year’s 2021 State Winners. Links to livestreams will be posted here and on the Commission’s Facebook page and Youtube channel.

We acknowledge the incredible work and talent of each State Finalist. This year, students from across Tennessee memorized, practiced, and polished their recitations in advance of the competition. While we wish the competition was taking place in person here in Nashville, we are thankful for virtual platforms that let us all celebrate together from the safety of our homes. 

This year’s brilliant State Finalists include: 

Ainsley Feeney is a dedicated senior at Arlington High School, a community organizer for Period901 and other important causes and is a determined Poetry Out Loud participant. She was the school champion last year when the pandemic hit and came back again this year for our school’s virtual contest. She plans to take her public speaking skills to college where she will be a political science major and perhaps our future president!

Samantha Cheek is a senior at Clayton-Bradley Academy, where she is involved in orchestra and volleyball. In her free time, she enjoys painting, playing music, and going on drives with her friends. Next year, she plans to attend the University of Tennessee Chattanooga to study pre-dental biology and art.

After a pandemic hiatus, Kendall Grimes is excited to be back on the (virtual) stage for Poetry Out Loud. Kendall is a junior at Battle Ground Academy who is active in Student Council, the Student Diversity Leadership Committee, and several sports. She is an accomplished musician, too, who sings and plays guitar. She is also an all-around good human being, as anyone who knows her could attest.

A tree-climbing, barefoot running, theatre acting junior, Eden Carnes enjoys studying calculus and Civil Rights history at Disco Institute when she isn’t concocting a wild lab experiment in chemistry or composing songs about her pet chicken or the encroaching threat of kudzu.

Vanessa Littlejohn is a 17-year-old junior from Haywood High School. She participates in her school’s volleyball team and is a member of the HHS lead team and FFA. Vanessa is also a member of Zion Baptist Church. She has pursued dancing for six years at Mrs. Cornelia’s dance studio and Pat Brown’s School of Dance.

Noni Mackay is a freshman at Clarksville High. She has many activities outside of school, including making costumes and props to cosplay with. She loves writing stories, songs, and music. Her next big project will be opening an Etsy shop and raising enough money to help her start producing VOCALOID songs!

Melea Weingarten is a sophomore at Cumberland County High School who is involved in a multitude of extra-curricular activities, including Beta Club, French Club, Jet Theatrix Drama Club, and FFA. In her free time, she enjoys reading, singing, hiking, and spending time with family. She also enjoys all the benefits of being an “essential” worker at a local grocery store. She wishes all the best to the other POL state finalists this year and looks forward to a time when everyone can meet in person.

Milla Smith is an active member of The International Thespian Society and performs in all productions that the Spotlight Players produce at Mount Pleasant High School in Mount Pleasant, TN.

Delaney Rae Viner is a born and raised Memphian and attends Harding Academy of Memphis. She is very passionate about eating, getting her homework done before the clock strikes 12, and listening to songs from musicals. Her favorite pastimes include reading all things mythical and magical and family trips, especially to Disney World and Colorado. She loves the connection she feels to the poetry she recites and feels truly blessed to have made it to the State Competition. She is very grateful to all her family, friends, and fellow competitors for supporting, encouraging, and challenging her along the way.

Additionally, this year’s virtual competition could not have been possible without the efforts of our judges. The 2021 judges are:

Erin Elizabeth Smith–Erin is the Creative Director at the Sundress Academy for the Arts and the Managing Editor of Sundress Publications. Her third full-length poetry collection, Down, was released in 2020 by Stephen F. Austin State University Press. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals, including Guernica, Ecotone, Mid-American, Tupelo Quarterly Crab Orchard Review, and Willow Springs, among others. She is a Distinguished Lecturer in the English Department at the University of Tennessee, and in 2017 she was inducted into the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame.

Jason Gerhard–Jason earned his BFA in Theatre Performance from The University of Memphis and is currently finishing his MFA in Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) from the University of Central Florida (UCF). Jason has worked as a teaching artist with the Orlando Repertory Theatre and UCF, was the Education and then Associate Director for Stage Door Productions in Memphis, and has worked as a freelance actor, director, and educator with several other Memphis theatres. He currently works as the Director of Theatre Education for Playhouse on the Square and serves as a judge for the College Division of The Ostranders, Memphis’ annual theatre awards. Jason’s directorial focus is on new work development with a special focus on news works for TYA. Additionally, he created Play Slam!, Playhouse’s Young Playwrights Competition and Festival, which is open to middle and high writers in the Mid-South and is getting ready to kick off its third year.

Tia Smedley–Tia is a dynamic spoken word artist whose performances boast of her roots in theatre. She is the Founder of Linguistic Liberation, LLC, where creative, educational, and coaching services are based on “freeing everyday people, one word at a time.”  She has spent over 11 years helping students of all ages and backgrounds to “stand tall in their truth” and continues to enjoy doing so. Tia is a wife and a mother of three but regards herself as more than the titles referring to her skills, gifts, or home. Instead, she chooses to be noted as a child of God, doing her portion of the divine work necessary to better the human experience.   

Finally, our fourth judge is our own, Lee Baird. Lee joined the Commission staff in June 2005. He administers the Literary Arts Program for the Commission, which includes managing grants for literary organizations and individual writers and coordinating special literary projects. In addition, as Grants Analyst, he supervises the agency’s sub-recipient grant monitoring and serves as a liaison to the grantees to ensure compliance with all contract requirements. 

The State Finals is emceed by nationally renowned, multi-genre writer and educator, Caroline Randall Williams, and includes dynamic performances by Nashville musician, Carly Moffa; ASL Interpretation by Deaf talent and Kiley Scott of Sign A Song; the State Finalist Poetry Recitation Showcase; and will conclude with the Awards Ceremony and the announcement of this year’s TN State Champion.

Please join us in cheering for the TN POL Champion at the National Finals event which is slated to take place virtually in May 2021. The event will be streamed via arts.gov. The student named TN champion will compete in the national finals where a total of $50,000 in awards and school/organization stipends, including a $20,000 award for the Poetry Out Loud National Champion, will be presented.

Dates for the National semifinals and finals are:

  • May 2, 2021 – 2021 POL National Semifinals
  • May 27, 2021 – 2021 POL National Finals

Poetry Out Loud is a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Foundation, and the Tennessee Arts Commission.