Last night, the 2024 Los Angeles County Poetry Out Loud competition took place at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. Benjamin Hays from Crescenta Valley High School in Glendale Unified School District emerged as our winner. He will represent L.A. County in Sacramento in March and was awarded a $500 cash prize, a banner and a certificate. Selah Johnson from the Archer School for Girls was the runner-up, receiving a $50 prize, a banner and a certificate.

All participating students performed one piece of poetry and had the opportunity to connect with each other. Poetry Out Loud is an annual recitation of classical poetry by high school students in grades 9-12. As winner of the L.A. County Poetry Out Loud competition, Benjamin will now move on to the California state contest to compete for a spot in the National Poetry Out Loud finals in May.

Poetry Out Loud is a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts and Poetry Foundation, supported statewide by the California Arts Council and locally by the LA County Office of Education in collaboration with the LA County Department of Arts and Culture. Learn more at https://www.arts.ca.gov.