Junior Robann Brown took the Poetry Out Loud Competition by storm, Feb. 1.
The poetry competition was held between Brown and freshman Raymond Renaurd. Each had two poems to memorize and recite.
“I already knew both of the poems,” Brown said. “I only practiced Monday and Wednesdays for a couple of weeks to kind of get more familiar.”
Weeks before the competition Brown began practicing with freshman English teacher Caroline Walton.
“I would practice in her room reciting both of my poems,” Brown said. “We would go through and change some things and I would read it and be like, ‘wait, that’s not right’ and have to change it and recite it all over again.”
The competition was held in Building 10 library after school. Both Brown and Renuard were to recite classic poems in front of four judges.
“We had to recite classics so they could follow us in the poems and see where we were missing rhymes and words,” Brown said. “They count off for tone not matching and attitude, the way you present it.”
Throughout the competition an open microphone was set up so that people from the audience could recite their own poems while the judges tally the scores.
“It’s not about dressing up; it’s not about hand motions. It’s about facial and tone of voice,” Brown said. “You have to stay in one general spot and be mellow and more relaxing.”
For winning the school’s competition Brown did not receive any sort of prize, but if she wins the state competition, she will be flown to Washington to compete in nationals.
Brown recited two poems throughout the show. Her first was, “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers Day” by William Shakespeare and her last poem was, “The Jabberwocky’ by Lewis Carroll.
“My favorite one to perform was Jabberwocky,” Brown said. “I had done that poem before but I worked on it with Mrs. Walton and twisted it and made it kind of sinister. There were more pauses and more evil grins.”
Brown didn’t receive anything for winning the school’s competition but will be entering the state competition on March. 2 at Pulaski Technical College in Little Rock.
“When my parents found out I won and got to go to state, they were very proud of me,” Brown said. “My grandparents were too, but there is a man at my church whose wife died and she wrote poetry and he was extremely excited. He said he’s going to try to come.”
If Brown wins the state competition she will be flown out to Washington to compete in the National Poetry Out Loud to compete against the best in the nation.
