After a thrilling “sudden-victory” round of poetry recitation (We’re not kidding. It really WAS thrilling!), Reilly Chabie was named the Marquette Senior High School Poetry Out Loud Champion before a packed-to-the-rafters Shirley Smith Little Theater on Wednesday afternoon at MSHS.
After two rounds of competition, Chabie (a senior) and Marguerite Guter (a junior) were tied with a total of 328 points. Finishing a close third with 325 points was defending champion Chelsea Morin (a junior).
With moments remaining in the school day, Chabie recited “Anne Rutledge” by Edgar Lee Masters and Guter recited “It Sifts from Leaden Sieves” by Emily Dickinson, with Chabie besting Guter 180 to 175.
Chabie recited “Larkinesque” by Michael Ryan and “The Paradox” by Paul Laurence Dunbar during the first two rounds, while Guter recited “The Darkling Thrush” by Thomas Hardy and “Gulf Memo” by Stephen Sandy. Morin recited “The End of Science Fiction” by Lisel Mueller and “Across the Bay” by Donald Davie.
A total of 18 students competed in this year’s MSHS championship, which was judged by Poet Laureate of the Upper Peninsula Russ Thorburn, NMU Professor Emeritus Tom Hyslop, MSHS Drama Director Laura Kagy, and Josh Starbuck of NMU.
Chabie will advance to the State Championship in Lansing on March 13th and 14th. The Poetry Out Loud State Championship is sponsored by the Michigan Humanities Council, the Poetry Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
More than 33,000 students from at least 50 Michigan high schools have participated in Poetry Out Loud programs since 2005. Richard Wu, a senior at Forest Hills Central High School near Grand Rapids claimed the 2013 Michigan crown.
The state winner will receive $200 and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. to compete for the national championship. The state winner’s school will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books.
Scholarships and school stipends totaling $50,000 will be awarded at the national finals, with a $20,000 college scholarship for the Poetry Out Loud national champion.
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