Editor’s note: This story is reported by Jane Braxton Little, who also volunteered as a judge for the Poetry Out Loud contest this year.
Nearly 30 Plumas County high school students gathered Feb. 2 to recite, enact and embrace poems. They flouted all notions of poetry as a staid academic pursuit as they and their supporters filled Quincy’s Town Hall Theatre with cheers, laughter and roaring applause.
Contestants in Plumas County’s ninth annual Poetry Out Loud contest appeared on stage one by one to deliver poems by poets that included Robert Frost, Edna St. Vincent Millay and Kamilah Aisha Moon.
Zenia Moghaddas, a Quincy Junior-Senior High School senior, delivered the winning performance, a recitation of “Meanwhile,” by Richard Siken. Poetry in general, and the contest in particular, have helped her find meaning in words, she said.
“Sometimes it’s a relief to recite poems. It’s creative. I can think and feel, which is sometimes not encouraged in the world,” Moghaddas told The Plumas Sun.
Zion Dammons, last year’s winner, placed second, with Lilliana Nunez claiming third place. Both are Portola Junior-Senior High School students. Moghaddas earned $500 for her performance. Dammons won $300 and Nunez $200.
Moghaddas will go on to compete in the state contest March 16. The winner of California’s Poetry Out Loud contest will compete at the national level in early May.
“This is part one of a giant journey,” said Margaret Elysia Garcia. She has coordinated the contest since she launched it, visiting classrooms annually to encourage student participation. Garcia credited each of the contestants with courage.
“It’s not easy to stand up on this stage and recite a poem from memory,” she said.
Students select a poem from Poetry Out Loud’s print or online anthology and memorize it. They are judged on criteria that include their delivery of the poem and how well it reflects their understanding of it. The contest promotes public speaking skills and helps build confidence, Garcia said. It also teaches students about literary history and contemporary life.
This year’s Plumas County contest drew a record 47 entrants from across the county from grades nine through 12. Illness and inclement weather forced some to withdraw. Judging the competition were Tina Terrazas, Jane Chang, Jill Dupras, Will Lombardi and Jane Braxton Little.
Poetry Out Loud is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, with local support from the California Arts Council and Plumas Arts.
