SACRAMENTO, CA – Students from 48 counties throughout California will gather in Sacramento to compete in a statewide recitation contest at the California Poetry Out Loud State Finals on March 16 and 17 in Sacramento, hosted by California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick.
This year’s event marks the 20th anniversary of California Poetry Out Loud, celebrating two decades of the program designed to inspire in young people the confidence to make themselves heard using one of the most powerful tools at their disposal—art.
“Twenty years of listening intently and meaningfully to the youth of our state is a huge cause for celebration,” said California Arts Council Executive Director Danielle Brazell. “Speaking in front of a crowd can be scary for many. We find ourselves collectively in a moment where we need to take every opportunity to encourage our young people to speak up, fearlessly, and publicly. These county champions are the future voices of California.”
An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation and administered statewide by the California Arts Council, Poetry Out Loud encourages high school students to learn about poetry through memorization, performance, and competition. Participants gain proficiency in public speaking, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life. California’s Poetry Out Loud is the largest event of its kind in the U.S. and has grown steadily since its inception. The 2025 competition series encompasses 49 counties, 235 schools, and 416 teachers, reaching more than 17,300 students statewide.
The 20th annual California Poetry Out Loud State Finals will kick off its first round on Sunday, March 16 at 12 p.m. at the Jean Runyon Little Theater in Downtown Sacramento. Round two of the event begins Monday, March 17, at 8 a.m. in Room 1100 of the state Capitol Annex Swing Space. Selected students will compete in a third and final round the same morning.
The final tally will determine this year’s state champion, an honor that includes a $200 cash prize, $500 toward literary materials for the winner’s school, and a trip to Washington, D.C., with a chance to win the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest, beginning May 5.
Poetry Out Loud county champions have also been invited to participate in a creative writing contest, known as Poetry Ourselves. The National Endowment for the Arts added Poetry Ourselves to the national event in 2016, and the California Arts Council has offered the opportunity at the state level since 2019. County champions are invited to submit an original written poem of no more than 50 lines, to be judged anonymously by guest judges. The winner of Poetry Ourselves receives $100 and the opportunity to recite their poem during Sunday’s final program. A runner-up and an honorable mention will also be recognized at the event, and all three poems will be published to the California Arts Council’s Poetry Out Loud website.
The 2025 California Poetry Out Loud State Finals are free and open to the public, although space may be limited. For more details about the two-day final event visit the program website at capoetryoutloud.org.
Participating Counties
Finalists from the following counties are expected to compete at the 2025 California Poetry Out Loud State Finals: Alameda, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Lake, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Plumas, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo, and Yuba.
About Poetry Out Loud
Poetry Out Loud ignites student potential through the power of poetry. Students are given the opportunity to interact with the words of renowned literary figures through recitation, building a relationship with their works and creating a sense of shared ownership branded by their own technique of volume, pitch, pace, and personal point of view.
The California Poetry Out Loud State Finals is the culminating competition between county winners who have shown their merit in the classroom, school, district, and county (a pyramid competition structure similar to the spelling bee). The state champion receives $200 and a trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in the national Poetry Out Loud finals, paid for by the National Endowment from the Arts. The winner’s school will also receive $500 for library materials. The State Finals runner-up will receive a $100 cash prize, with $200 awarded to their school for book purchases. Competing at the Poetry Out Loud National Finals presents the opportunity for approximately $50,000 in scholarship funds and related winnings.
Event Program and Live Webcast
The 2025 California Poetry Out Loud event program, including detailed listings on the student finalists, judges, and a letter from our chair and executive director will be distributed at the event. A digital version is available for download here, and a list of all of the state finalists and their counties can be found at this link.
Rounds 2 and 3 of the competition taking place on Monday, March 17, will also be livestreamed by the California Arts Council. Information and links will be made available on the California Poetry Out Loud website and all California Arts Council social media channels preceding Monday’s event.
Media Inquiries Only:
Kimberly Brown
Public Affairs Specialist
kimberly.brown@arts.ca.gov
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The California Arts Council is a state agency with a mission of strengthening arts, culture, and creative expression as the tools to cultivate a better California for all. It supports local arts infrastructure and programming statewide through grants, initiatives, and services. The California Arts Council envisions a California where all people flourish with universal access to and participation in the arts.
Members of the California Arts Council include: Roxanne Messina Captor, Chair; Leah Goodwin, Vice Chair; Gerald Clarke; Caleb Duarte; Vicki Estrada; Roy Hirabayashi; Alex Israel; Dorka Keehn; Phil Mercado; Nicola Miner. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov.
The California Arts Council is committed to increasing the accessibility of its online content. For language and accessibility assistance, visit https://arts.ca.gov/about/about-us/language-communications-assistance. To read this announcement in Spanish, please use the website’s Google Translate tool by clicking the “Translate” link in the upper righthand corner of this page.
El Consejo de las Artes de California se compromete a aumentar la accesibilidad de sus contenidos en línea. Para obtener ayuda con el idioma y la accesibilidad, visite https://arts.ca.gov/about/about-us/language-communications-assistance. Para leer este anuncio en español, utilice la herramienta Google Translate del sitio web haciendo clic en el enlace “Traducir” situado en la esquina superior derecha de esta página.
