2008 Minnesota Poetry Out Loud highlights
In 2008, eleven metro and seventeen greater Minnesota schools participated in Poetry Out Loud. Regional contests were held in Bloomington, Duluth, Elk River, Fergus Falls, Lanesboro, and Minneapolis in February.
Twelve finalists competed for the title of Minnesota poetry recitation champion at the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, on March 10, 2008. Mary Hu, a student at Morris Area High School (Morris) was named Minnesota's poetry recitation champion.
Tom Crann, host of MPR's All Things Considered gave the welcome
and also interviewed Mary after the contest. Listen to the interview.
Thank you to Minnesota Public Radio and the Fitzgerald Theater
for sponsoring the 2008 Minnesota State Competition.
Watch video highlights of the 2008 state finals.
Thank you to Saint Paul Neighborhood Network for
shooting, editing, and broadcasting the program highlights.
2008 Minnesota finalists, and the poems they recited:
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First place
Mary Hu
Morris Area High School, Morris
“Bilingual/Bilingüe” by Rhina P. Espaillat
“Mrs. Krikorian” by Sharon Olds
“Hap” by Thomas Hardy
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Second place
Devin Welch
Harbor City International, Duluth
“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas
“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
“The Owl and the Pussycat” by Edward Lear
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Third place
Saranya Sathiamoorthi
Math and Science Academy, Woodbury
“A Psalm of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Forgetfulness” by Billy Collins
“Dancers Exercising” by Amy Clampitt
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Fourth place
Tia Brodsky
Mounds View High School, Arden Hills
“One Perfect Rose” by Dorothy Parker
“O Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman
“Progressive Health” by Carl Dennis
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Fifth place
Nathanial Buck
Math and Science Academy, Woodbury
“My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning
“The Spider and The Fly” by Mary Howitt
“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
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Sixth place
Thomas Smit
Wabasha-Kellogg High School, Wabasha
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
“Preludes” by T. S. Eliot
“Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen
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State contestant
Jiccarra Hollman
Augsburg Fairview Academy, Minneapolis
“We Wear the Mask ” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
“Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou
“Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall
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State contestant
Sadiq Lateef
Champlin Park High School, Anoka
“Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe
“The Spider and the Fly” by Mary Howitt
“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas
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State contestant
Julie Nyborg
Cotton High School, Cotton
“Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe
“Let It Be Forgotten” by Sara Teasdale
“Song of the Powers” by David Mason
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State contestant
Monika Pachel
Underwood High School, Underwood
“You Charmed Me Not With That Fair Face” by John Dryden
“Happiness” by Jane Kenyon
“Waving Goodbye” by Gerald Stern
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State contestant
Alyssa Perau
Triton High School, Dodge Center
“Song: Go and catch a falling star” by John Donne
“A Psalm of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Forgetfulness” by Billy Collins
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State contestant
Caleb Wolfe
Augsburg Fairview Academy, Minneapolis
“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
“Song” by Edmund Waller
“If—” by Rudyard Kipling
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