For Immediate Release: March 6, 2010
Contact: Jeff Morgan
Public Relations
515.281.3858
Jeff.Morgan@iowa.gov
Sioux City’s John-Emmett Mahon wins state poetry championship
Mahon moves on to National Finals next month in Washington, D.C.
(DES MOINES, Iowa) — John-Emmett Mahon of Sioux City’s PeaceMakers Academy won the 2010 Iowa State Finals Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest today at the State Historical Building in Des Moines, edging out 17 other competitors.
With the victory, Mahon receives $200, a $500 check for his school and a trip to Washington, D.C. to compete in the Poetry Out Loud National Finals April 25-28, 2010, at George Washington University. The POL National Finals will award $50,000 in college scholarships and school prizes.
“I feel blessed that I was able to represent my school here at the state contest,” Mahon said. “This is the first time I have ever competed in something like this and it has been a great experience. I am really looking forward to going to Washington, D.C. and representing Iowa at the National Finals.”
Mahon, a 17-year-old senior and son of Vince and Darlakae Mahon, recited “A Red, Red Rose” by Robert Burns, “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe and “Dolce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen to earn today’s victory.
Gwen Morrison of Marshalltown earned second and Jyothi Dhanwada of Northern University of Cedar Falls took third in today’s competition. Other finalists included 2009 state champion Mia Pierson of Roland-Story and Dana Sly of Sioux City North.
Coordinated in Iowa by the Iowa Arts Council, Poetry Out Loud is a nationwide program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation.
The program began as a pilot project in 2005 and has expanded to include all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Students participate at classroom, school and state levels for the right to compete in the National Finals. This year, more than 1,500 students in Iowa competed at classroom and school levels.
The program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence and learn about their literary heritage. It also fosters the next generation of literary readers by capitalizing on the latest trends in poetry – recitation and performance.
Iowa Poet Laureate Mary Swander spoke prior to the competition about the importance of poetry recitation.
“To memorize a poem is to incorporate it inside your life where it might guide, enlighten and entertain,” Swander said. “To recite a poem with emotion and grace is to understand language in a more profound way, how it knits sound and meaning together to create something bigger than itself.”
Students in today’s competition were judged on accuracy, physical presence, voice and articulation, appropriateness of dramatization, level of difficulty, evidence of understanding, and overall performance.
Today’s judges included:
- Jeanne Emmons, an Iowa poet and educator with a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts and Doctorate in English from the University of Texas. Emmons received the 2009 Comstock Review Award and she is a professor of English and Writing at Briar Cliff University.
- Kimberly Groninga, an Iowa poet and educator who teaches in the English Department at the University of Northern Iowa. She is the nonfiction editor of the “North American Review,” the nation’s oldest literary magazine.
- Rustin Larson, an Iowa poet and radio show host whose work has been featured in “The New Yorker,” “The Iowa Review,” “North American Review,” “Poetry East” and “The Atlanta Review.” He received his Masters of Fine Arts in Writing from Vermont College.
- Dan Troxell, an Iowa poet, poetry promoter and member of the Iowa Poetry Association. He has performed and hosted monthly poetry events in local venues for the past several years and has conducted poetry residencies in public schools in Des Moines and Mason City.
This year, IAC partnered with three arts organizations – Arts on Grand in Spencer; Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center in Cedar Falls; and Lamb Arts LTD in Sioux City – to promote poetry in Iowa.
The organizations provided professional development and workshop opportunities for teachers and students last fall, and appointed local professional poets to be available for classroom and school residencies. Participating POL schools could apply through a funding program to bring poets to their classrooms by visiting www.iowaartscouncil.org.
NEA and the Poetry Foundation provide state arts agencies free, standards-based curriculum materials for use by participating schools. These materials include print and on-line poetry anthologies, a program guide to help instructors teach recitation and performance, and an audio CD. For more information about Poetry Out Loud, visit www.poetryoutloud.org.
Iowa’s past state champions include Emily Mortvedt of Roland-Story in 2008, Spencer Gilbert of West Des Moines Valley in 2007 and Ashley Baccam of Des Moines East in 2006.
Other students who competed today include:
(Community)
(Student)
(School)
Ames
Krista Klocke
Ames Homeschool Assistance Program
Ankeny
Haley Nixt
Ankeny High School
Des Moines
Dmitri McDonald
Central Academy
Des Moines
Champagne Harrington
North High School
Grinnell
Nora Tjossem
Grinnell High School
Johnston
Megan Albers
Johnston Middle School
Kingsley
Burgundy Zellmer
Kingsley-Pierson High School
Mason City
Alexandra Dunlay
Mason City High School
Norwalk
Chelsea Frazer
Norwalk High School
Waukee
Rachel Carlson
Prairieview School
Waukee
Aaron Calvin
Waukee High School
Waukon
Katie Riese
Waukon High School
West Des Moines
Kaitlin Olson
Valley High School
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The Iowa Arts Council is a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs and works to enrich the quality of life for Iowans through support of the arts. Funding for the Iowa Arts Council and its programs is provided by the state of Iowa and the National Endowment for the Arts. More information at www.iowaartscouncil.org.