Poetry Out Loud journey inspires Charleston County student

Poetry Out Loud state champion Katherine Murchison reflects on her experience and competing at the national contest.

On March 16, the South Carolina Arts Commission announced that I was the South Carolina state champion for the Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest.

The next month, I advanced to the Poetry Out Loud National Finals, which took place from April 29-30 in Washington, D.C., to compete with 53 other representatives for a chance to win a $20,000 scholarship. Nation-wide, more than 4,000 students began the competition, and 53 remained.

I competed with nine regional finalists at the Columbia Museum of Art for my position. We all recited two poems we had memorized for months through school-wide and regional contests. Three students, including myself, were named state finalists and recited a third poem in order to determine the winner.

Here, Justin Fox, a Spartanburg High School senior, was named state runner-up and Kynnedi McManus, a Strom Thurmond High School senior from Edgefield County came in third.

As the state champion, I received $200 and an all-expenses paid trip for me and a chaperone to compete in the national finals.

The Charleston County School of the Arts, the high school I attend, received a $500 stipend to purchase poetry books.

More importantly however, throughout this entire process I have been exposed to a multitude of poets and passionate literary students just like me.

Read the rest of Katherine’s report.

Via: Moultrie News