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Interlochen Arts Academy student Gabriel Blaikie named 2022 Poetry Out Loud State Champion
The senior theatre major will advance to the national Poetry Out Loud competition on May 1.
Interlochen Arts Academy senior Gabriel Blaikie, courtesy of Michigan Humanities
Interlochen Arts Academy senior theatre student Gabriel Blaikie has been named the 2022 Poetry Out Loud State Champion by Michigan Humanities and the Michigan Arts and Culture Council. The recitation competition is part of Poetry Out Loud, a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry.
Poetry Out Loud partners with local agencies to coordinate the competition for high school students across the country. Participants are encouraged to spend time with and choose poems that speak to them on a personal level. All contestants were evaluated on physical presence, voice and articulation, evidence of understanding, dramatic appropriateness, accuracy, and overall performance.
Blaikie read “Tomorrow” by Dennis O’Driscoll, “Windy City” by Stuart Dybeck, and “A Thousand Martyrs” by Aphra Behn. “I enjoyed how the poetry created a connection between performer and audience, and the challenge of using heightened language,” he said.
This is the first time that Interlochen students took part in the competition. “This experience provides our students with the opportunity to engage with the work from their heart, as themselves, as opposed to playing a character. It allows them to invite audiences into their living experience with the poem,” said Interlochen Instructor of Theatre Andrew McGinn. “Gabriel took the opportunity for all it was worth, and we wish him the best going forward to the national competition.”
Each Poetry Out Loud state champion received a cash prize of $200, and their school received $500 for poetry materials. Blaikie and fellow state champions will proceed to the Poetry Out Loud National Finals on May 1 and have the opportunity to win a $20,000 award for the national champion, $10,000 for second place, $5,000 for third place, and $1,000 for fourth-ninth places.
To ensure the safety and health of participating students and staff, the 2022 Poetry Out Loud National Finals will take place virtually in lieu of holding them on site in Washington, DC. All 55 state and jurisdictional finalists will participate in the national semifinals that will stream on Sunday, May 1, with the top nine students advancing to the national finals on Sunday, June 5. Both the semifinals and finals will be streamed at arts.gov.
