Junior Maddie Smith represented Marian at the Nebraska Poetry Out Loud state finals on Sun., March 12 and came home with the title of state Runner Up.

She had three masterful live performances of poetry at the Sheldon Art Gallery in Lincoln. The poems she recited from memory were: “Brother, I’ve seen some” by Kabir, “The Consent” by Howard Nemerov and “You, If No One Else” by Tino Villanueva. She had chosen these poems out of the more than 1000 poems available for the Poetry Out Loud competition (poetryoutloud.org)

She earned a certificate, a hand-blown glass trophy, a cash award for herself and $200 to purchase poetry books for Marian’s library. Smith was also the State Runner Up in 2022 and 2021. The Marian library already has $400 worth of poetry books because of Smith’s efforts.

The event was emceed by Nebraska State Poet, Mr. Matt Mason. Mason was the professional poet teaching artist that helped Smith and other Marian girls participating in the contest this year. The Nebraska Arts Council provides teaching resources for helping the school run a contest and train a winner for the next level.

The state winner was Amelia Escalante, a senior from Bellevue West. Escalante will represent the state of Nebraska at the National Poetry Out Loud finals in Washington D.C. in May. The third place winner was Bryant Peck from Wisner-Pilger High School. The finals had 11 participants from across the state. Other Metro area schools represented included Skutt and Wahoo. All Nebraska high schools were invited to participate in the preliminary competition and those who qualified for the State finals were the ones competing live at the March 12 event.

Sponsors of the Poetry Out Loud program include the Nebraskans for the Arts, Nebraska Arts Council, Nebraska Cultural Endowment, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Poetry Foundation. After the national finals, Poetry Out Loud will have awarded $50,000 in scholarship and school library stipends. The National Champion will earn a $20,000 college scholarship, too.