By Dana Sternthal
Staff Writer
Senior Taylor Howat won Mira Costa’s second annual Poetry Out Loud recitation competition on Jan. 17 in the Drama Room.
POL is a national contest held in high schools across the country. Each of the 29 contestants memorized two poems from the official POL database. After the first round, the judges chose the top 10 contestants to advance to the next round .
“I was surprised that I was chosen to be in the second round,” contestant sophomore Katherine An said. “I was glad I tried out this new experience and was able to share my poetry with others.”
English teacher Diana Sieker coordinated the event and was the master of ceremonies. She started Poetry Out Loud at Costa last year and plans to continue it in the future.
“I love poetry and thought it would be cool to participate in this nationwide contest,” Sieker said. “I invite anyone to participate who loves the spoken word.”
While the judges were tabulating the final scores, an open microphone was held in which anyone could perform on stage. Representatives from the Manhattan Beach Senior Poetry Circle and acclaimed poet Kelli Anne Noftle recited original works.
“Everyone who participated was incredibly brave,” sophomore Tatiana Bodner said. “I enjoyed listening to Noftle recite her own work because she was able to convey the poem’s meaning well.”
Howat won the competition again this year, performing “Ego” by Denise Duhamel, and “Testimonial” by Rita Dove.
Junior Alex Hanson won second place with her recitation of “The Way It Sometimes Is” by Henry Taylor, and “Queens” by J.M. Synge. Senior Danielle Kay placed third with “Ecology” by Jack Collom, and “Ego” by Denise Duhamel.
“This competition is my favorite,” Howat said. “It is so much fun, and all the other contestants were amazing.”
First and second-place recipients received gift certificates from the local bookstore {pages}, the official sponsor of the event.
“It was a close competition,” Bodner said. “Watching two people recite the same poem added new meanings.”
After winning, Howat continued to the county-level competition on Wednesday in Culver City. However, Howat did not qualify through the county competition.
“I went to county last year too and everyone there was so amazing,” Howat said. “The county winner recited ‘Ego,’ and it made me want to recite it this year.”
The winner from Los Angeles County will move on to the state competition. The state champion will then continue to the national contest in Washington D.C.
“I will most likely be doing Poetry Out Loud again next year because I love the opportunity to express my thoughts through poems,” An said.
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