Senior Meghan Joyce won the first St. Paul Academy and Summit School Poetry Out Loud competition after presenting Emily Brontë’s “Ah why, Because the Dazzling Sun” in round one and Rita Mae Reese’s “Dear Reader” in round two of recitations for a judging panel of an SPA alumna and poet, Upper School librarian Kate Brooks and Upper School English teacher Emily Anderson.

“I got started in Poetry Out Loud mainly because I have a mind for memorization and Poetry: Craft and Criticism on my second semester schedule,” Joyce said. “The day we had out first meeting, I was surprised by how excited I was by it all. I went home that night and read at least the first three lines of every poem on the Poetry Out Loud website — which, with around a thousand poems, was a slightly bigger task than anticipated — and picked a handful of favorites. That poetry overload really got me hooked.”

Joyce’s ultimate secret to success was her passion for and practice of the poetry. After she picked the poems which she would recite from the Poetry Out Loud anthology, she prepared extensively.

“For weeks I repeatedly recited them to myself in the car going to and from school, practicing different intonations, ” she said.

In addition to Joyce’s presentation, other melodic voices could be heard in the Driscoll Family Commons reciting poems such as “Advice to a Prophet,” delivered by senior Nina Zietlow; “Blackberrying” performed by junior Peter Schavee; “How many times these low feet staggered,” spoken by sophomore Noa Carlson; “And If I Did, What Then?” rendered by freshman Hunter von Tersh Pohrer; and “I married,” recited by senior Ingrid Topp-Johnson.

Joyce believes the most fun part of her Poetry Out Loud experience so far to have been fellow competitors.

“Nothing bonds a group of people quite like laughing as we tried to decipher the meanings and backstories behind poems, watching one another improve on recitations, and eating homemade cookies. We were competitors, but we worked together,” she said.

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Sophie Jaro

Senior Ingrid Topp-Johnson performed "I married" by Lorine Niedecker.

The practiced poem presenters articulated the pieces on Dec. 10 in the second and final round of Poetry Out Loud competition at the school level. The audiences and competitors had to wait for the continuation of the competition after round one on Nov. 18. Although round one had the room filled the room with an enraptured audience, round two hosted only the most attentive poetry admirers. After the long gap between rounds, the winner was at last announced to a receptive school wide audience during Friday assembly by Upper School English teacher Philip de Sa e Silva, who was responsible for bringing Poetry Out Loud to SPA and worked with the competitors at their weekly meetings.

Minnesota state finals, where Joyce will recite in hopes of earning a place in the national competition, will be held Mar. 10 at the Target Performance Hall in Minneapolis.

Updated 12/12/15: Junior Peter Schavee’s name was misspelled both as Peter Schavey and Peter Shavey, sophomore Noa Carlson’s name was misspelled as Noel Carlson, and sophomore Hunter von Tersch Pohrer’s name was misspelled both as Hunter Von-Tersch and Hunter von Tersch.