Poetry Out Loud has been happening since 2005 and is still going strong today at SLOHS with this latest County champion. Photo courtesy of  freshman Hollis Dickinson.

  Poetry Out Loud is a competition where students try to recite poems of their choice better than other students. The competition starts at a school level and gets progressively larger until it reaches the national level. San Luis Obispo High School is one of the many schools across the country that participates in this.

  Junior Annika Miltner has won the school level and country level competitions and will be moving on to the state level. It will take place in Sacramento in March.

  Expressions reached out to Miltner to get take on the competition.

Expressions: Why did you decide to do Poetry Out Loud?

Junior Annika Miltner: I decided to start doing Poetry Out Loud my sophomore year simply because I love poetry. I think there’s so much power in how you recite a poem and bring it to life. There are so many possibilities and everyone does it differently so it’s awesome to see everyone’s interpretations. 

Expressions: What are the names of your poems and why did you choose them?

Miltner: My poems are “The Larger” by Joanie Mackowski and “Angels” by B.H Fairchild. I picked these poems for the two very different characters that they exude and how different the portrayals are. 

Expressions: What is your favorite part of POL?

Miltner: My favorite part of POL is definitely the emotion I get to put into my poems. I love giving the poem the feeling of anger, sadness, confusion, etc. It’s so fun to just put on a persona with each poem and show the audience what the author meant.

Expressions: How long did it take you to prepare your poems?

Miltner: As for how long it took to prepare, the memorization was quick, maybe a few days for both, but I spent a long time over the span of a few months really workshopping my understanding of the poem and the recitation itself.

Expressions: Do you have any advice for students planning on doing POL in the future?

Miltner: For future students, take the time to think about what your poem really means and convey that message to the audience. That’s what makes your poem stand out.

  Good luck in state Annika!