Sylvia Dale, a senior at Ganado High School was named state champion at the Arizona Poetry Out Load state finals March 7 in Phoenix. Dale will represent Arizona at the Poetry Out Load national competition in Washington D.C. April 27-29. (Photos/Arizona Commission for the Arts)

GANADO, Ariz. — Sylvia Dale, a senior at Ganado High School in Apache County, will represent Arizona at the 15th Annual Poetry Out Loud national finals competition in Washington, D.C., April 27 – 29.

The Arizona Poetry Out Loud State Finals were held at Burton Barr Central Library in Phoenix March 7. Ten students, representing schools from Tucson to Ganado, a chapter of the Navajo Nation, recited poems by a diverse array of literary luminaries, including Langston Hughes, Pablo Neruda, and contemporary Arizona poet, Natalie Diaz. After two rounds of recitations, four students advanced to the final round. From these four, Sylvia Dale was named State Champion while Oscar Landa Samano, a student at Coconino High School in Flagstaff, was named first runner-up.

A program of the National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation, Poetry Out Loud is a poetry recitation competition delivered in high schools in all 50 states and three territories through partnerships with State Arts Agencies. Arizona’s Poetry Out Loud program is managed by the Arizona Commission on the Arts, an agency of the State of Arizona, with support from regional partners, University of Arizona Poetry Center, Phonetic Spit, and Andrea Lenhart, a Flagstaff-based poet and lecturer at Northern Arizona University.

(Photos/Arizona Commission for the Arts)

This was Sylvia’s third year competing at the state level. She recited poems by Mary Lamb, Claude Mckay, and Natalie Diaz, a Mojave poet and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Tribe.

As State Champion, Dale receives $200 and an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, DC, (with an adult chaperone) to compete at the National Finals. Additionally, her school will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. As runner-up Oscar Landa Samano receives $100 and his school receives $200 for the purchase of poetry books.

The competition continues

The Poetry Out Loud national semifinals will be held in Washington, DC, April 28, at Lisner Auditorium at The George Washington University. Nine finalists will then advance to the national finals, also held at Lisner Auditorium April 29.

A total of $50,000 in scholarship awards and school stipends are awarded at the Poetry Out Loud National Finals, with a $20,000 college scholarship award for the National Champion.

About the Arizona Commission on the Arts

One of 56 state and jurisdictional arts agencies across the United States, the Arizona Commission on the Arts is a 54-year-old agency of the State of Arizona and a leading force in the creative and professional development of Arizona’s arts sector. Through robust programs, research initiatives, and strategic grantmaking, the Arts Commission catalyzes arts-based partnerships that strengthen Arizona communities through the arts.