美国国家公共电台 NPR These High Schoolers Have A Passion For 'Poetry Out Loud'

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

It started with tens of thousands of high school students. Tonight, nine of them face off in the finals of Poetry Out Loud, a kind of spelling bee for poetry. The champion gets fame, glory and $20,000. NPR's Elizabeth Blair went to yesterday's semi-finals.

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EVAN REYNOLDS: "I Have A Time Machine" by Brenda Shaughnessy.

ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE¹: That's the Poetry Out Loud state champion from Connecticut, Evan Reynolds.

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EVAN: It can only travel into the future at a rate of one second per second.

BLAIR: Students recited poems by the likes of Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson and Phillip Levine. They're judged on things like physical presence, voice and articulation² and evidence of understanding. From the U.S. Virgin³ Islands, Mahlana Graham recited "Black Boys Play The Classics" by Toi Derricotte.

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MAHLANA GRAHAM: The most popular act in Penn Station is the three black kids in ratty sneakers and T-shirts playing two violins and a cello⁴.

BLAIR: As a senior, this is Graham's fourth and last Poetry Out Loud. She received an honorable mention but was sad not to move to the next round.

MAHLANA: This competition is a huge part of my life. I have been looking forward to it since I've been in elementary school.

BLAIR: The state champion from Maine, Joao Rodrigues Victor, is moving on to the finals. He recited "Bright Copper⁵ Kettles" by Vijay Seshadri.

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JOAO RODRIGUES VICTOR: Dead friends coming back to life. Dead family speaking languages living and dead.

BLAIR: This is the second year in a row the Maine state champion is an asylum-seeker. Victor is from Angola. Last year, the main champion was Allan Monga from Zambia. He sued the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation for a chance to compete for the national title. Last year, the NEA said only U.S. citizens could compete. This year, the rules are different. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News, Washington.