Poetry in the foothills!

Poets and poetry lovers have new opportunities to shine! For the third year, PlacerArts is co-sponsored the Sierra Foothills Poetry Contest. With the help of the Sierra Nevada Arts Alliance, the 2007 contest was expanded to all twenty-two counties of the Sierra Nevada.

For the second year, Placer and Nevada county schools are participating in the national Poetry Out Loud Recitation Contest.

Poetry Out Loud

The California Arts Council has joined the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Poetry Foundation to promote a national program entitled Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest.  This program encourages high school students to learn about poetry through memorization, performance and competition. 

For the second year, Placer County High Schools joined the national competition. Each participating class conducs performances in their classrooms, guided by local Poets-in-Residence. Five Placer County High Schools participated in the Regional Finals, including Roseville, Granite Bay, Del Oro, Colfax and Oakmont.  Eleven school finalists each recited two classical poems each in the regional finals at the J.B. Gale Little Theater at Roseville High School.

Roshawnda Bettencourt, a twelfth grade student from Oakmont High School in Roseville, took first place in the Placer County Poetry Out Loud competition on Thursday, February 21, 2008 at Roseville High School's J.B. Gale Theater, and then went on to win the California State Finals in Sacramento on March 14. She will advance to the Poetry Out Loud National Finals on April 28-29 in Washington, DC, where $50,000 dollars in scholarships and school prizes will be awarded.

Each winner’s school will also get stipends for the purchase of poetry books and related materials. The National Finalist will receive a $20,000 scholarship and their school will receive stipends to purchase poetry related materials.

Students and teachers interested in participating may contact Judi Nicholson, Roseville Community Representative for the Arts Council of Placer County, telephone (916) 780-2787, e-mail Judi@PlacerArts.org. For more information on the Poetry Out Loud Program, see www.poetryoutloud.org.

Sierra Foothills Poetry Contest

Residents of all Sierra Nevada counties are invited to submit entries to the Sierra Foothills Poetry Contest. Deadline is April 15, 2008. Contestants may submit two poems per entry (any genre, 80 lines or less), with multiple entries welcome. There are three categories: Adult, Grades 8-12, and Grade 7 & Younger, with cash prizes of $50 in each category.

The entry fee is $5 for adults and $2 for 12th grade and younger.

For a 2008 entry form, click here. For more information and to read the winning poems from past years, see www.singingtreepress.com.

2007 Award Winners were announced at a reception at The Arts Building on Saturday, November 3:

Clark Ashton Smith Poetry Prize (adult): Tenth Summer, B.K. England, Newcastle, Placer County

The Eulalie Prize (grades 8-12): An Escape Upon the Shore, Tiffany Hamilton, Colfax, Placer County

Jackson Gregory Prize (grade 7 and younger): Season's Childhood, Laura Hoyt, Jackson, Amador County

All finalists’ poems are published in the paperback book, Little Town, USA. Copies are available for sale at The Arts Building, 808 Lincoln Way in downtown Auburn.

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