SC Arts Commission Press Releases
S.C. Arts Commission Announces State Poetry Out Loud Champion
March 24, 2009
Media Contact:
Milly Hough
(803) 734-8698
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The S.C. Arts Commission announces Shannon Laribo, a sophomore at Ashley Hall in Charleston, as the state champion for the Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. She faces off with 52 high school students from every state, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for the $20,000 grand prize at the Poetry Out Loud National Finals April 27-28 in Washington, D.C.
Nine finalists from each region—Upstate, Midlands and Lowcountry—competed in front of a crowd of 125 at the Columbia Museum of Art during state finals Saturday. Each recited three poems, which they had memorized and perfected during schoolwide and regional competitions. Laribo, who impressed the judges with her recitations, including Sharon Olds’ “I Go Back to May 1937,” receives $200 and an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in the national finals, where the NEA will award $50,000 in scholarships and school stipends. Her high school library also receives a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books.
Judges Katie Fox of the S.C. Arts Commission, Darion McLoud of the Columbia Museum of Art, and Sally Arango Renata, a current S.C. Arts Commission Poetry Fellow, named Tremaine Rapp, a senior at Greenwood High School in Greenwood County first runner-up. Rapp receives $100, and his library receives a $200 poetry book stipend. They also named Duncan Perry, a student at Conway Christian School in Horry County, the second runner-up.
More than 4,500 high school students statewide participated in this year’s competition, which encourages the nation's youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance. The South Carolina contest for Poetry Out Loud is coordinated by the S.C. Arts Commission, in partnership with The Humanities Council SC, Hub City Writers Project, Sumter County Cultural Commission and the Lowcountry Initiative for the Literary Arts. For more, contact Susanna Brailsford at SBrailsford@arts.sc.gov or (803) 734-8639.
About SCAC:
The South Carolina Arts Commission is the state agency charged with creating a thriving arts environment that benefits all South Carolinians, regardless of their location or circumstances. Created by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1967, the Arts Commission is working to increase public participation in the arts by providing services, grants and leadership initiatives in three areas: arts education, community arts development and artist development. Headquartered in Columbia, S.C., the Arts Commission is funded by the state of South Carolina and by the federal government through the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information, visit www.SouthCarolinaArts.com or call (803) 734-8696.
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