On Jan. 22 Branson hosted its second annual Poetry Out Loud competition. 

Poetry Out Loud, a national competition that promotes poetry appreciation through recitation, encourages students to engage deeply with poetry. Participants select their works from an approved anthology, memorize them and then perform in competitions at the school, county, state and national levels. At the highest level, winners can earn significant scholarship prizes.

“It’s the national competition of reciting poetry that’s already been written,” said Mira Sridharan ‘26, the student organizer. “You choose a poem from the website, [which includes] poems from the modern age all the way back to Shakespeare.”

Sridharan played a key role in bringing the event to Branson last year. After hearing about the competition, she reached out to Branson English teacher Neha Kamdar about the prospect of having Branson host an event.

“Neha was really into it,” Sridharan said, describing the early days of the program. “We emailed our county coordinator so she could put us into the system. And from there, we just kind of created a mini-curriculum for our club meetings.”

Using resources from the Poetry Out Loud website, including videos and lesson plans, Sridharan and her team organized meetings to help participants select poems and refine their performance techniques.

This year’s competition built on the foundation established in 2023, with a few notable changes.

“Last year, we relied a lot on the club meetings so we could collaborate on poems,” Sridharan said. “But this year, we used the club meetings as more of an introduction, and people kind of had to apply the techniques to their own poems.”

The competition demands more than just memorization. Participants must demonstrate an understanding of their chosen poem’s meaning while showcasing strong public speaking skills.

“To prepare, you have to memorize it, and then know it well so that you can apply different speaking techniques, such as tone of voice and gestures,” Sridharan said. “The judges are looking [to see that] you’re confident in what you’re saying, you understand the meaning of the poems and you’re able to speak clearly and articulate well.”

Sareena Kumar ‘25, who won last year’s competition, took first place again this year and will advance to the county-level contest in early February.

“She’s gonna meet with the Poetry Out Loud coach that we brought in, and then she’s gonna go to county,” Sridharan said.

This year’s competition saw increased participation, with six competing students compared to four last year. Sridharan expressed pride in her peers for taking on the challenge.

“I think they all did really well,” she said. “It is a pretty big time commitment, memorizing a poem and practicing and all that, so I’m just happy that people were excited to participate.”