Bella Slone, a junior at Beechwood High School, has won the Kentucky Poetry Out Loud Recitation contest. Her victory, which she achieved in Lexington on Feb. 12, means she will advance to the national recitation competition in Washington, D.C., in April.
“Bella is one of the most hard-working and talented students with whom I’ve worked,” said Beechwood High English Teacher and forensics coach Molly Seifert.
Additionally, Slone’s victory secured her a personal cash prize of $200 and her school library a cash prize of $500 to purchase poetry books.
“I’ve always liked poetry,” Slone said. “I just had never been immersed in it as much as I have because of Poetry Out Loud.”
Poetry Out Loud is a national recitation competition founded in 2005 that sees high school students from around the country compete in public, memorized performances of famous poems. The organization’s website touts it as a way to “help students improve public speaking skills, build confidence and grow their appreciation for poetry.” About 4.5 million students have participated in competitions since the organization’s founding.
Not every school participates in Poetry Out Loud, but participating schools start competitions at the classroom level. Winners of each classroom advance to a school competition, winners of schools advance to state competitions, and state winners compete at nationals. Recitations are judged based on the performers’ stage presence, articulation, accuracy, level of understanding and the overall difficulty of the poems. Slone had previously advanced to the state level during her freshman year but ended up taking second place.
Slone writes her own poetry, although she didn’t perform any of her poems for the competition; participants are limited to a pre-selected, approved anthology. They recite one poem per round. Slone recited three at the state competition: “Militants to Certain Other Women” by Katharine Rolston Fisher, “She Walketh Veiled and Sleeping” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “The Light of Stars” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Longfellow’s one of her favorites. Specifically, she likes “The Cross of Snow,” a mournful poem Longfellow wrote to reflect on the death of his wife.
“He’s just such a fantastic writer,” Slone said. “It’s really so beautiful to me that something that was written so long ago… is still so profound, and I can still relate to it today.”
“She can not only recite poetry beautifully, but she strives to truly understand, appreciate and bring literature to life,” Seifert said. “She loves reading and writing poetry, and her performances are a natural extension of her love of the written word.”
“Poetry really just describes feelings that there isn’t a single word for,” Slone said.
The national competition will take place on April 27 and will feature competitors from every state, the District of Colombia, Puerto Rico and other United States territories.
“It’s just been a great experience,” Slone said.