Poetry Out Loud

Poetry Out Loud is a national literary arts program that connects young people to great poetry. The program gives schools free educational materials and hosts a dynamic poetry recitation competition for high school students across the United States. Students compete at the school, regional, state, then national levels for the chance to win college scholarship funds.  

2026 is our 19 year hosting New Jersey’s Region 1 Poetry Out Loud competition—when high school students from South Jersey deliver deeply-felt readings of great poems, of all eras and styles. The Region 1 winner advances to the state competition, and, from there, has the chance to win the national-level award of $50,000 in college funds.  

Poetry Out Loud is led by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation in partnership with state and jurisdictional arts agencies across the country. In New Jersey, Poetry Out Loud is a project of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the Count Basie Center for the Arts, with a growing network of regional partners, Including RCCA, that implement the program statewide. 

RCCA has been the NJ Poetry Out Loud Region One Partner since 2007.
REGION ONE INCLUDES Gloucester, Burlington, Camden & Mercer counties.

High schools in these counties can get involved in this nationwide recitation contest and scholarship program.