On April 27, Nogales High School senior Zasia Villa will represent Arizona at the National Poetry Out Loud finals competition in Washington, D.C.
For Arizona’s 2015 Poetry Out Loud state champion Zaskia Villa, the road to the National Finals got off to a bumpy start:
“My first time competing was my freshman year, but I didn’t do very well in the classroom competition because I had friends in the class that were making me laugh throughout my poem.”
The Nogales High School senior has come a long way since then. Next week, she’ll travel to Washington, D.C., to represent Arizona at the Poetry Out Loud National Finals competition. Her brother, Ivan, will accompany her on the all-expenses paid trip to the nation’s capitol.
“Poetry Out Loud has given me an opportunity to see a new part of the world and its people, and create memories that I’ll never forget. It has led my brother and I to travel to Washington D.C. together, and that’s pretty amazing, if you ask me.”
A program of the National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation, Poetry Out Loud is a poetry recitation competition delivered in high schools in all 50 states and 3 territories through partnerships with State Arts Agencies.
This year, more than 365,000 high school students nationwide —inlcuding 11,000 from Arizona—participated in the program.
For Zaskia, hearing her fellow competitors recite is the best part of participating in the program.
“The aspect I’ve loved the most about Poetry Out Loud is getting to meet new people and to listen to them recite. It’s incredible to hear the way others conceive and express poems.”
She wasn’t always such a fan of poetry recitation, though.
“I always had an idea of what poetry recitation was like: rather monotone, and maybe quite dull, like an audiobook,” she admits. “My views changed when I was first exposed to slam poetry by my freshman English teacher, Ms. Zinke. There was something in the levels and speeds of the voices in the slam videos that I was captured by in an instant.”
Poetry Out Loud offered Zaskia the opportunity to personally explore the craft of poetry recitation.
“The art of altering a voice to trigger different feelings was fascinating to me, so when Ms. Zinke told my class about the Poetry Out Loud competition, I was mostly attracted by the opportunity to experiment with my voice and different techniques to enhance the words in my chosen poems.”
Thanks to the humorous distractions of her classmates, Zaskia didn’t advance past the classroom level her first year participating in Poetry Out Loud, but she applied greater focus her junior year and placed second in the school competition.
Her success this year is all the more impressive considering she doesn’t have a coach. She practices by writing her poems out long-hand and taking every opportunity to recite.
“I’ve recited my poems for my English class, at school board meetings and for the community.”
The poems she’s selected for competition this year are “Movement Song” by Audre Lorde, “Deliberate” by Amy Uyematsu and “It Was Not Death, For I Stood Up (355)” by Emily Dickinson.
When she’s not reciting poems by others, Zaskia writes her own.
“I wrote my first poem in 2009 while observing rain, and since then, I’ve really enjoyed it. I’d say poetry was a big part of my life before Poetry Out Loud because it was a personal way in which I was able to release my troubles, thoughts, and feelings onto paper.”
The importance of taking time to do things she enjoys doing is one lesson Zaskia has taken away from her participation in Poetry Out Loud.
“I feel like I spread myself too thin sometimes, with clubs and difficult classes; having something to resort to that I know I love to do, and I have been successful at doing, is refreshing.”
Her success has been encouraging, but Zaskia is quick to clarify that it’s not the most important part.
“It’s about indulging in something that brings you pure joy. After the final competition, win or lose, I’ll know that I gave it my all and that I was there for the poetry, not for the award.”
Still, the awards are pretty great: the top finalists at the National Finals and their schools will receive $50,000 in awards, including a $20,000 college scholarship for the National Champion.
Want to cheer her on, but can’t make it to Washington, D.C., next week? You can watch the entire semifinals and finals through a live, one-time only webcast. You can also gather fellow poetry fans for a Poetry Out Loud Webcast Viewing Party. Register at arts.gov and find tips on hosting your party, promotional materials, and details on other viewing parties around the country. Follow the Poetry Out Loud National Finals on Twitter at @PoetryOutLoud and @NEAarts, #POL15. For more information on the event, webcast, or viewing parties, visit arts.gov or call 202-682-5606.
photos by Alonso Parra
