POETRY OUT LOUD San Diego Regional Finals To Take Place In February

The San Diego Regional Finals of POETRY OUT LOUD, a national poetry recitation competition for high school students, will take place Tuesday, February 3 at 6:00 p.m. in the Neil Morgan Auditorium at the San Diego Central Library. The event is free and open to the public and will also be live-streamed on YouTube.

POETRY OUT LOUD is presented nationally by the National Endowment for the Arts and is managed in California by the California Arts Council. In San Diego, the program is administered regionally by the City of San Diego Cultural Affairs in association with Write Out Loud.

The program encourages students to engage with classic and contemporary poetry through memorization and performance. Since its launch in 2005, more than four million students nationwide have participated. Competitors recite poems selected from the Poetry Out Loud Anthology and are judged on criteria including voice and articulation, evidence of understanding, accuracy, and overall performance.

Write Out Loud has administered the competition locally since 2014, expanding participation in San Diego County from a single school to seven schools in the current season, along with independent student participants. Students advance from school-level competitions to the regional finals, with the winner earning the opportunity to represent San Diego at the California State Finals in Sacramento.

Write Out Loud Artistic Director Veronica Murphy noted the program’s growing impact in the region, highlighting increased youth engagement with poetry and recent statewide recognition for local educators involved in Poetry Out Loud.

This year’s finalists represent Academy of Our Lady of Peace, Canyon Crest Academy, Christian Family Schools of Poway, Francis Parker High School, Pacific Ridge High School, Valley Center High School, Westview High School, and independent students from across San Diego County. Judges for the regional competition include poets and creative writing educators Brandon Cesmat, Gina M. Jackson, Anoushka Majumder, Jane Muschenetz, and Margarita Pintado Burgos.

The San Diego regional winner will be announced at the conclusion of the February 3 event and will advance to the California State Finals, scheduled for March 15–16, 2026. The state winner will move on to the National Finals in Washington, DC, taking place April 27–29, 2026.