Alaska students compete in 2018 Poetry Out Loud state finals

Juneau student Morgan Blackgoat stands on the @360 stage before the Poetry Out Loud state final competition in Juneau, Alaska.
Thunder Mountain High School junior Morgan Blackgoat was among 11 Alaska high school students competing Mar. 6, 2018, in Poetry Out Loud state finals in Juneau. (Photo by Annie Bartholomew/KTOO)

Eleven students competed Tuesday in the state finals Alaska’s Poetry Out Loud, a national program encourages high school students to learn about poetry through memorization, performance and competition.

Thunder Mountain High School junior Morgan Blackgoat competed Alaska’s Poetry Out Loud state finals held in Juneau Tuesday night.

She opened the contest with her recitation of Natalie Diaz’s poem “Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation.

Blackgoat, who is of Navajo descent, said she chose the poem because it was written from the perspective of an indigenous author.

Students must prepare to recite three poems that are judged on accuracy, physical presence, voice and articulation,  dramatic appropriateness, evidence of understanding and overall performance.

Petersburg High School’s Elisa Larson took first place, and will advance to the National Finals in April in Washington, D.C.

Jania Tumey of West Anchorage High School was runner up.

Watch Ernestine Hayes address the 2018 Poetry Out Loud Alaska state finals:

Before the final round of the competition, Alaska State Writer Laureate Ernestine performed the late Koyukon Athabaskan poet Mary TallMountain’s poem “The Last Wolf,” and then addressed the students.

The annual competition is produced in collaboration with the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council. 360 North co-produces the television coverage.

View the entire broadcast of the Poetry Out Loud 2018 Alaska state finals:

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