One would think that reciting poems from memory in front of a packed house in Representatives Hall would be the most nerve-wracking portion of the evening for a high school student. But one wouldn’t have necessarily accounted for the Insider in that scenario.
The final round of New Hampshire’s Poetry Out Loud competition – sponsored by the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts – was held last Friday night, producing a victor in Oyster River’s Dan Belshaw, who will compete in the national competition April 28-30 in Washington, D.C. But while none of the students had any trouble delivering poems, they all had a hard time answering the Insider’s question about what they would name a poem about the competition.
It’s an admittedly difficult question, especially as an on-the-spot surprise. Belshaw was the only of the three finalists interviewed to even offer a response, titling his yet-to-be-penned masterpiece Ode to the Small Buttons By My Chair, a nod to the red and green voting buttons adorning the seats for those who regularly populate Representatives Hall.
The high schoolers were otherwise unflappable, though, reciting their way through three rounds of poems as they battled for the spot in the national limelight. Eleven finalists from across the state competed in the event, with all 11 reading poems in each of the first two rounds before a field of four was selected to read once more. Judges scores whittled the field and eventually determined that Belshaw was the best performer of the evening.
Stephanie Bilodeau, representing the Keene Public Library, finished second and would represent New Hampshire if Belshaw were unable to.
The State House showdown was the final leg of a long journey for the students, who had to first win competitions at their own high schools before moving on to state semifinal battles and the championship round. They had to select poems of varying lengths from a list available on the Poetry Out Loud website and deliver them with poise, confidence and emotion. In all, more than 9,000 students from 36 high schools in New Hampshire took part in the competition.
“I’ve always loved poetry. I love to write, I love to perform; I love to do all these things that kind of mix together here,” Belshaw, who read poems by David Yezzi, Delmore Schwartz and Taylor Coleridge in Friday’s finale, said. “It’s about doing what you love.”
When reading poems is what you love, though, narrowing the field to three favorites can be an arduous task. Even with the required parameters in mind, it took a lot of internal debate for some of the competitors to arrive at their final list.
“For me it’s really about the fact that I have to connect with it emotionally,” Emma Ridinger of Hopkinton Middle High School, another of the students to reach the final four, said. “It has to be something I care about. But even then I had a list of about 30.”
Ridinger ultimately read selections by Lisel Mueller, Sherman Alexie and Leigh Hunt.
The competition gives the students a chance to shine in a venue outside the classroom, and to find a voice in a creative outlet.
“I think it’s so important for students to experience the power that words can have, and to feel how they can communicate meaning, depending on how they are presented,” Cynthia Robinson, co-coordinator for the New Hampshire Poetry Out Loud program, said. “I love how the program seems to bring out and highlight the best, thoughtful, critical thinking in each student.”
In the final round they also get a taste of the celebrity life, minus – we assume – contact with Ryan Seacrest. After arriving early, the competitors headed to their own green room, where they had to face the paparazzi and pose for photos.
They also had what Robinson called a “breathing time, and a time to meet and talk with other competitors.” Just before the competition kicked off, students met with the prompter in order to familiarize themselves with where to look if they needed a line before finally heading to the mic for a quick sound check.
And then it’s showtime.
“I love the moments when the students begin their poem – you can see the confidence and pride in the work they have done to understand and present it,” Robinson said. “Often I hear stories about the significance of the program for inpidual students; sometimes there have been specific life challenges, sometimes this is a key moment for them to shine. And you can feel the electricity of inspiration.”
And it’s not without reward, both immediate and long-term. A total of $50,000 in cash and school stipends are awarded to the participants who place at the various stages of the competition, including scholarships offered by local colleges like New England College and Southern New Hampshire University, some of which will have a direct and powerful impact on the lives of the students.
“My favorite moment this year was when a student came up and thanked me and said that she is going to her first choice college at Southern New Hampshire because of the Poetry Out Loud scholarship (they offered),” Robinson said. “Without it, she would not have been able to go.”
For more information about the program or to learn how students or schools can get involved, contact Catherine O'Brian, arts education coordinator for the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts at catherine.r.obrian@dcr.nh.gov or 271-0795 or visit nh.gov/nharts. For more information on Poetry Out Loud, visit poetryoutloud.org.
