Ellen Wise competes at Poetry Out Loud state finals

After winning among friends at Stanwood High School and in the bigger fish bowl at regional competition at Skagit Valley College, Ellen Wise will compete against 11 students from across the state in the national poetry recitation contest, Poetry Out Loud.

State finalists advanced from regionals in Clark, Pierce, Skagit, Spokane, and Yakima counties. They will be reciting works they selected from an anthology of more than 500 classic and contemporary poems. Through three rounds of poetry recitations, they will be competing for one slot at the nationals.

The winner of the state finals will receive $200, and the winner’s school will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. The second place finalist will receive $100, with $200 for his or her school library. The state champion will receive an all-expenses-paid trip (with a chaperone) to compete in the national finals in Washington, D.C., April 25-27.

Poetry Out Loud Nationals will award a total of $50,000 in scholarships and school stipends, with a $20,000 college scholarship for the national champion.

State finals are open to the public with free admission at Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Performing Arts at South Puget Sound Community College 1-5 p.m. Saturday, March 20.

For more information visit www.poetryoutloud.org.