Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Competition
Offered by National Endowment for the Arts and Mid Atlantic Arts
About this scholarship
Poetry Out Loud is the United States’ official high-school poetry recitation competition, operated by the National Endowment for the Arts with Mid Atlantic Arts and participating state and jurisdictional arts agencies. The 2026–27 rules are live, and the official anthology for the school year becomes available after September 1, 2026. Students begin through a registered high school or eligible local organization, advance through any regional and state rounds, and may reach the national finals in Washington, DC, scheduled for April 26–28, 2027. The national champion receives $20,000, second place receives $10,000, third place receives $5,000, and fourth through twelfth places receive $1,000. State champions receive $200 plus an expenses-paid national-finals trip with an adult chaperone, while state runners-up receive $100; participating schools or organizations can also earn poetry-material stipends. Individual students do not submit a national scholarship form. A teacher or organization must register with the appropriate state coordinator, and students whose school is not participating should contact that coordinator about another official route. Contestants recite poems from memory and must use selections in the current anthology, including the required short and pre-1930 selections at state and national finals.
Eligibility
- Be currently enrolled in grades 9 through 12, with the stated exception for eighth graders in a high-school-level class
- Participate through a school or organization registered with the applicable state Poetry Out Loud coordinator
- Compete in a lower-level official contest before advancing to a state final
- Select every recitation from the official 2026–27 Poetry Out Loud anthology
- Memorize each poem and follow the competition’s performance rules
- Prepare three poems for state and national finals, including one of 25 lines or fewer and one published before 1930
- Compete through only one stream: either a school or a participating local organization
- A previous national champion may not compete again