POETRY FINALS SET FOR CHEYENNE: The Wyoming Arts Council will conduct the statewide finals for the Poetry Out Loud recitation project on Monday, April 10, 7-9 p.m., at the Plains Hotel, 1600 Central Ave., Cheyenne. The event is free and open to the public. Students in grades 9-12 from schools in Cheyenne, Buffalo, Afton, Cokeville, and Lander will be competing in the final round. Judges will be Stephanie Painter, a poet from Saratoga; Harry Woods, director of the Cheyenne Little Theatre Players; and Max Maxfield, Wyoming State Auditor. The Wyoming winner will receive $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip (with a chaperone) to Washington, D.C., for the national finals May 15-16. The state winner’s school will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. The runner-up will receive $100, with $200 for his or her school library. At the national finals, winners will receive $50,000 total in scholarships and school stipends, with at least a $20,000 college scholarship for the Poetry Out Loud national champion. First Lady Nancy Freudenthal will preside at an awards ceremony in the Wyoming Capitol Building rotunda, 24th St. and Capitol Ave., from 8-9 a.m. on Tuesday, April 11. The public is invited. Sponsors are the Wyoming Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Poetry Foundation. The next session of Poetry Out Loud will be conducted in the 2006-2007 school year. For more information, contact Mike Shay, 307-777-5234.
- posted by Michael Shay @ 3:22 PM