TN Poetry Out Loud State Finals is March 4!
From Julia Stark, Arts Learning Specialist –
The 2023 Tennessee Poetry Out Loud (POL) Contest will be held live at the TN State Museum on Saturday, March 4, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. CDT. The event is free and open to the public.
Please join us to watch some remarkable poetry recitations and to find out who will be this year’s 2023 State Winners.
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.
This year’s State Finalists include:
Megan Ammons, a sophomore at Harding Academy of Memphis, spends much of her time on the dance floor practicing for her own performances and teaching five-year-olds to tap, stand on their heads, and speak French ballet terms. She also trains Chick-fil-A teams to do a myriad of jobs with a smile and a sincere “my pleasure.” She hopes to attend Lipscomb University in the fall and major in pre-medicine.
Rebecca Aponte is a sophomore at Webb School of Knoxville. At the age of seven she read Lewis Carroll’s nonsensical poem, Jabberwocky, and her love of poetry began. The strange and unknown words were fun to read to herself but even more entertaining to recite out loud. Her family sent her to Interlochen’s Creative Writing summer program, where Rebecca fell in love with reading and analyzing different poetry forms and dabbled in writing and reciting her work. When she’s not engaged as a poetaster, she plays violin in the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra and is a member of her high school’s swim and mock trial teams.
Charlotte Bollschweiler is a junior at Clayton-Bradley Academy in Maryville. She has been involved with the arts all her life, and they have become a very central part of her identity. She has been performing with Appalachian Ballet Company since 2016, performing such roles as Tinkerbell in Peter Pan and Clara in The Nutcracker. She also enjoys visual art, especially drawing, and painting. This is her second Poetry Out Loud TN competition, and she is very excited to be back.
KaNia Foster is a freshman at Brainerd High School. Her great sense of humor and adventurous spirit led her to play multiple sports, participate in the school musical, and seek out opportunities to showcase her skills. She hopes you see her outgoing nature, compassion, and honesty on and off the stage.
Madison Clanton is a Cumberland County High School senior who loves theatre and all things creative. She is passionate about creating art and sharing with others, and she is excited to share her love of poetry with anyone who will listen. She has been a CCHS Jet Theatrix Drama Club member since she was a freshman and was proud to represent CCHS at the 2022 POL Tennessee State Finals. She is grateful for the memories and friends she has made through POL and wishes the best of luck to her fellow finalists.
Briana Fowlkes is a Junior at Mount Pleasant High School. She is the Color guard Co-Captain and Jr. Class President. She enjoys art, musical theatre, and playing guitar, violin, and piano in her free time.
Lyric Franklin is a seventeen-year-old junior attending Brighton High School. Her main hobbies include theatrical pursuits, music practice, and writing poetry. She plans to further her education in college and perform in musicals around the world.
Rylee Hill is a freshman at Donelson Christian Academy and is honored to be given this fantastic opportunity. Rylee comes from a military family and has lived in several states and two countries. She enjoys playing softball and acting; she will soon be playing Princess Fiona in DCA’s spring production of Shrek, the Musical. Rylee would like to thank her excellent English teacher, Ms. Ham, for supporting her in her passions.
Jakyla Hughes is one interesting young lady. She is currently a junior at Haywood High School in Brownsville, TN. She may seem very shy at first, but she has a genuine sense of kindness and friendliness that lights up a room. Jakyla is active in her church and loves listening to music and dancing in her free time. Two of her favorite foods are sweet potatoes and macaroni and cheese. An interesting fact about her is that she is currently learning to speak Spanish and Korean.
Noni Mackay is a vivacious junior at Clarksville High School with a passion for costumes and creativity. They’ve competed in many cosplay contests and made most of their own costumes, finally winning a competition, with many more to come. This will be their third time entering Poetry Out Loud.
Violet May, a Dickson County High School sophomore, loves poetry, theatre, and all things expressive. She’s been writing her own poetry since the fifth grade and has performed poetry with the DCHS Speech Team since August. Her favorite role in theatre was playing Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Madison Moore is a junior attending Nashville School of the Arts, pursuing her love for reading, writing, and creativity. She hopes to achieve great things, such as publishing books filled with poetry and essays. Her passion also weaves into her other hobbies: gardening and sewing. All of these activities require love, concentration, and time.
Mackenzie Reeves is a freshman at Peabody High School in Trenton, TN; an active member of the Peabody Speech and Debate Club; this is her first year competing in the Poetry Out Loud Competition.
Hailey Rosacia, a junior at Richland High School, is an outgoing young lady who is fond of public speaking and theatre. She loves to play the antagonist, allowing her to show the range of her talent. Hailey is also very active and enjoys playing soccer. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, especially her dog Bella.
Rinas Mehamed is a junior at Arlington High School born in Memphis. She wants to be a medical oncologist when she grows up. Her hobbies are her escape from stress. She loves to sing and learn new things, and her favorite sports are volleyball and soccer. This year, Rinas enjoys being in Princess for Patients, because it includes what she wants to become someday and brings a smile to children’s faces.
Ian Torgerson is a junior at Farragut High School (FHS); he has earned a black belt in Krav Maga, enjoyed two years of men’s choral at FHS, and is currently on the FHS wrestling team. This is Ian’s third year participating in JROTC, and last year he was awarded a bronze medal for outstanding leadership by the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Lizzy Williamson is a sophomore at Hardin Valley Academy in Knoxville, Tennessee. In her free time, she enjoys anything music-related, reading, and learning things.
Additionally, this year’s competition could not have been possible without the efforts of our judges. The 2023 judges are:
Steve Sherman is in his fifth year as a Lecturer in Acting at The University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where he teaches acting, playwriting, and Introduction to Theatre. He received his MFA in Acting from UT in 2016 and has performed in 12 productions at the Clarence Brown Theatre. He has worked as an actor and writer all over the country, including the new work process at The Kennedy Center and Tony Award-winning O’Neill Theatre Center. As an undergraduate at Western Washington University, he was nationally recognized for acting and playwriting by the Kennedy Center for his play Brian and Joe. He also serves as Artistic Director of the Knoxville Children’s Theatre, where he directs throughout the year. As a comic/improviser, he has performed at notable venues such as The Comedy Store, The Hollywood Improv, and iO West. He currently has two screenplays in development with Nashville-based Soul Feather Studios, and his favorite roles are being a husband and father.
Jacquelyn Swift is an author, editor, and Spoken Word, artist. With her MFA in creative writing, she has spent years mastering the craft of the written word, teaching poetry in the Metro Nashville School Systems, and proofreading for poets working towards final drafts. When she isn’t featured onstage, she hides at the library or bookstore with her iced coffee and laptop.
Marcus Wicker is the author of Silencer (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017)—winner of the Society of Midland Authors Award—and Maybe the Saddest Thing (Harper Perennial, 2012), selected by D.A. Powell for the National Poetry Series. He is the recipient of a 2021 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, a Pushcart Prize, 2011 Ruth Lilly Fellowship, as well as fellowships from The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and Cave Canem. Wicker’s poems have appeared in The Nation, The New Republic, The Atlantic, Oxford American, and Poetry Magazine. He is the Poetry Editor of Southern Indiana Review and an Associate Professor at the University of Memphis, where he teaches in the MFA program.
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, James Wells, the Education Manager at Crayola, and includes dynamic performances by Nashville musician, Carly Moffa; 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 on May 8-10, 2023. 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.
Poetry Out Loud is a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Foundation, and the Tennessee Arts Commission.
