S.C. poetry champ advances in national competition
Tune in tonight online
The Palmetto State will have representation in the Poetry Out Loud national finals tonight in Washington.
Jessie Leitzel. SCAC photo by Amelia Dupont.
Charleston high school senior Jessie Leitzel, one of nine students out of a field of 55 state and jurisdictional champions, advanced last night to tonight’s finale.
These students will recite classic and contemporary poems, competing for the title of 2024 Poetry Out Loud National Champion and a $20,000 award. A program of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation along with the state and jurisdictional arts agencies (like the SCAC), Poetry Out Loud has reached more than 4.4 million students since it began in 2005. This year’s state and jurisdictional champions advanced from more than 160,000 students nationwide.
The final runs from 7-9:15 p.m. ET tonight at Lisner Auditorium, The George Washington University (730 21st Street NW, Washington). Since the majority of us can’t make it in time, there will be a live, one-time-only webcast at arts.gov/Poetry-Out-Loud.
The finals host is Huascar Medina, poet, editor, and National Council on the Arts member. Judges are H-Dirksen L. Bauman, Amber McBride, Lupe Mendez, Mei Ann Teo, and Laura Tohe. The evening will also include a performance by acclaimed Haitian-American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter Leyla McCalla.
2024 Poetry Out Loud National Finalists
- District of Columbia Champion Nyla Dinkins, a 10th-grade student at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School
- Florida Champion Niveah Glover, a 12th-grade student at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts
- Georgia Champion Tiana Renee Jones, a 10th-grade student at Whitefield Academy
- Louisiana Champion Grisham Locke, a 12th-grade student at Ruston High School representing the Ruston Cultural District
- Minnesota Champion Ariana Kimball, a 12th-grade student at Washburn High School
- South Carolina Champion Jessie Leitzel, a 12th-grade student at Charleston County School of the Arts
- South Dakota Champion Grace Powell, a 12th-grade student at Dakota Valley High School
- Texas Champion Oluwabori Fadairo, an 11th-grade student at The Hockaday School
- West Virginia Champion Willow Peyton, a 12th-grade student at St. Marys High School