Six Champions at the National Book Festival

On September 30, six state champions from the 2006 Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest will share their talents at the Library of Congress National Book Festival.  Poetry Out Loud finalists, including national champion Jackson Hille of Ohio, will recite classic and contemporary poems that they studied as part of their involvement in the first national poetry recitation contest.  The students' performances will be among the showcase events at the Book Festival's Poetry Pavilion, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The students were among 51 state champions from every state and the District of Columbia who participated in the National Finals of Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest, a program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition.  The state champions gathered at the historic Lincoln Theater in Washington, DC last May to match their skills in poetry memorization and recitation. Poetry Out Loud is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, in partnership with the state arts agencies.

Jackson Hille (Ohio)

Recognized as Poetry Out Loud's 2006 National Champion, Jackson Hille hails from Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from Columbus Alternative High School in 2006 and is beginning his collegiate career at Otterbein College in the fall of 2006, where he plans to major in theater. Jackson noted that, as hobbies go, he "thoroughly enjoys theater and four square" and attempts to practice the two daily. On reciting "Forgetfulness" by Billy Collins, one of the poems that helped him win the championship, Hille said, "I like the irony of memorizing a poem about forgetting."

Poems to be recited:
"A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General"  by Jonathan Swift
"Altruism"  by Molly Peacock
"Forgetfulness"  by Billy Collins

Jackson Hille at the National Poetry Recitation Finals (Video)
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Riva Y. Dumont (Maine)

Maine's state champion for Poetry Out Loud in 2006, Riva Dumont lives in China, Maine and is a graduate of Erskine Academy. She will begin her college career as a public relations major at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont with plans to study abroad in England during her junior year. She aspires to work in public relations at a publishing house once she graduates. In high school, Riva was involved in the theater, speech, and debate clubs, among other activities. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream are her favorite literary works. Riva chose "Hysteria" by Dionisio D. Martinez and the two poems she will recite at the National Book Festival because she "liked the messages expressed in each of them."

Poems to be recited:
"La Belle Dame sans Merci"  by John Keats
"Beauty"  by Tony Hoagland

Riva Dumont at the National Poetry Recitation Finals (Video)
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Ken Huffman (California)

Ken Huffman was the 2006 California state champion for Poetry Out Loud. Ken was born in Sacramento and currently lives in Elk Grove, California. A graduate of Elk Grove High School in 2006, Ken was involved in numerous extracurricular activities in high school, including band, student council, and drama club. Ken was also an AP Nationwide Scholar and plans on being a music major in college. He lists Dr. Seuss and E.E. Cummings among his favorite literary figures.

Poems to be recited:
"O Captain! My Captain" by Walt Whitman
"Detroit, Tomorrow"  by Philip Levine

Ken Huffman at the National Poetry Recitation Finals (Video)
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Chris Estevez (Pennsylvania)

Poetry Out Loud's Pennsylvania state champion for 2006, Chris Estevez hails from Scranton, Pennsylvania. He will be a junior at West Scranton High School in the fall of 2006 and is involved in many extracurricular activities, including drama, French, speech, and debate clubs. He is also working to improve arts programs at his high school. Chris's goal is to attend college as a theater major. "I like to find different ways to express myself," said Chris. "I feel that you have to strive in all challenging ways to live life." About one of the poems he recited on the way to the National Finals, Rhina P. Espaillat's "Bilingual/Bilingue," Chris said, "I can relate to the situation the speaker is going through in the poem. It is what I experienced."

Poems to be recited:
"Bilingual/Bilingue"  by Rhina P. Espaillat
"Salome"  by Ai

Chris Estevez at the National Poetry Recitation Finals (Video)
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Kendra Holloway (Kentucky)

Kendra Holloway, the 2006 Poetry Out Loud Kentucky state champion, comes from Christian County High School in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, where she was born and raised. She will begin her senior year of high school in the fall of 2006. Kendra has aspirations to attend college as a drama major and a law minor and eventually become an actress and director. Kendra said that she "wants to share with the world my words and views that anyone can become anything that their heart desires." Among the poems she prepared to recite at the National Finals was Edgar Albert Guest's "It Couldn't Be Done." She chose this and the other two poems to recite because "they touched me and I knew if they could do that then they would touch someone else."

Poems to be recited:
"Ballad of Birmingham"  by Dudley Randall
"To the Ladies"  by Lady Mary Chudleigh

Kendra Holloway at the National Poetry Recitation Finals (Video)
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For more information on
Poetry Out Loud, please visit www.poetryoutloud.org
 

For more information on the National Book Festival, please visit
www.loc.gov/bookfest