State finals for Poetry Out Loud March 15 in Charleston

The West Virginia Division of Culture and History and the West Virginia Commission on the Arts will host the state finals of the Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 15 in the Norman L. Fagan West Virginia State Theater of the Cultural Center in Charleston.

Students from Cabell County Public Library, as well as numerous West Virginia high schools are competing for a first-place prize of $200 and an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. for the national finals April 27-29.

Additional monetary awards include a $500 stipend to the winner’s school for the purchase of poetry books, $100 to the second-place winner and $200 to that student’s school library.

All of the students competing in the competition will receive a Poetry Out Loud t-shirt, tote bag, a book of poetry and tickets to the Charleston Ballet.
The competition is free and open to the public.