Maryland State Arts Council Announces Poetry Out Loud Maryland State Champion

The Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) announced that Brian Gilbert, a senior at Marriotts Ridge High School in Howard County, placed first at the 2012 Maryland Poetry Out Loud (POL) competition on Saturday, March 3 at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

MARYLAND STATE ARTS COUNCIL ANNOUNCES POETRY OUT LOUD MARYLAND STATE CHAMPION

Baltimore, MD — The Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) announced that Brian Gilbert, a senior at Marriotts Ridge High School in Howard County, placed first at the 2012 Maryland Poetry Out Loud (POL) competition on Saturday, March 3 at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Radio personality Aaron Henkin of WYPR hosted the event, which featured scored rounds of poetry recitation from eight Maryland students who advanced at classroom, school, county and regional contests to arrive at Saturday’s final.  

“The caliber of students’ recitations this year was truly exceptional. The Arts Council is proud to see the Poetry Out Loud program reaching new schools and more students each year, and we anticipate another great outcome for Maryland at the national final this May,” said Theresa Colvin, Executive Director at the MSAC.

More than 15,000 Maryland students in 17 counties and 62 schools participated in POL this year. A panel of judges—all published Maryland poets—scored students’ performances in categories such as level of difficulty, dramatic appropriateness, voice and articulation and overall performance.

Mr. Gilbert, who recited “Keeping Things Whole,” by Mark Strand and “To a Mouse,” by Robert Burns, will receive $200 and a trip to Washington, D.C. to represent Maryland in the POL national competition on May 13 at the Harman Center for the Arts. His school will receive a $500 stipend toward the purchase of books of poetry.

Returning to the state final for the second year was Kari Barclay, a senior at Richard Montgomery High School in Montgomery County. Mr. Barclay was the 2011 Maryland state champion and went on to place ninth out of some 365,000 students at the national final. He placed second at the Maryland state final this year, and will receive $100 and a $200 poetry book stipend for his school. Placing third was Cora Lesure, a senior at Annapolis High School in Anne Arundel County.

The Maryland POL program, which encourages high school students to learn poetry through memorization and recitation, is supported by the MSAC in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. The statewide competition is open to all Maryland high schools, grades 9-12.

To view a full event program, with judge’s bios, visit http://www.msac.org/docs_uploaded/POL2012-program.pdf. To learn more about Poetry Out Loud visit the website at www.poetryoutloud.org.
For more information about the Maryland competition visit www.msac.org/poetryoutloud, or contact Program Director, Chris Stewart at cstewart@msac.org.

Event host Aaron Henkin announces Brian Gilbert of Howard County places first.

From left to right: second place winner, Kari Barclay (Montgomery County); third place winner, Cora Lesure (Anne Arundel); first place winner, Brian Gilbert (Howard)

Poetry Out Loud state finalists, from left to right: Brian Gilbert (Howard County), Kari Barclay (Montgomery), Cora Lesure (Anne Arundel), Ben Fauth (Wicomico), Brianne Wade (Washington), Bryce Boyd (Washington), Rebecca Schisler (Talbot), and Kimberly Lane (Baltimore).

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About the Maryland State Arts Council
The mission of the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC), an agency of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, Division of Tourism, Film and the Arts, is to encourage and invest in the advancement of the arts for the people of Maryland. The latest economic impact report shows that MSAC grantees' activities support more than 10,600 jobs and generate $1 billion in local economic activity and $36.5 million in state and local taxes. 

For more information about the Maryland State Arts Council call (410) 767-6555 or TTY 1-800-735-2258, or visit the MSAC web site at www.msac.org.