CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WVDN) – Logan High School student Emily Porter will represent West Virginia in the 2025 Poetry Out Loud National Finals in Washington, D.C. on May 5-7, 2025.
Porter won the state competition hosted by the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History (WVDACH) and the West Virginia Commission on the Arts on Saturday, March 1, at the Culture Center, State Capitol Complex, in Charleston. Brittany Ward of Parkersburg High School was named the state runner-up.
Porter recited Invisible Children by Mariana Llanos, The Coming Woman by Mary Weston Fordham, and Passive Voice by Laura Da’.
Ward’s poems included Don’t Bother the Earth Spirit by Joy Harjo, How to Triumph Like a Girl by Ada Limon, and We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Forty-one students from high schools in 26 counties competed in the semifinals on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, with the top 10 contestants competing Saturday in the state final. A complete list of semifinalists and their schools is attached. Top 10 finalists and Top 5 finalists are also noted.
Emily Porter will receive $200 and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., for the national finals. Logan High School will receive $500 for the purchase of poetry books and materials. The school’s Poetry Out Loud coordinator is Andrea Santos.
As the runner-up, Brittany Ward will receive $100, and her school will receive $200 to purchase poetry materials. Parkersburg High School’s Poetry Out Loud coordinator is Linda Hindman.
Both students received trophies created by West Virginia artist Matt Thomas of Gilmer County.
Poetry Out Loud is a poetry recitation contest sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry Magazine, the oldest English-language monthly publication dedicated to verse. The program is designed to encourage high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition.
Beginning at the classroom level, more than 2,800 students and 150 teachers at 45 West Virginia high schools participated in the Poetry Out Loud program this year.
For more information about Poetry Out Loud and the state final competition, contact program coordinator Jim Wolfe at (304) 558-0240 or james.d.wolfe@wv.gov.
