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Poetry Out Loud winners

Carmen George

(Updated: Thursday, February 16, 2012, 2:45 PM)

Three Mountain Area high school students swept first through third place in a county-wide Poetry Out Loud competition Saturday at Yosemite High School, hosted by The Madera County Arts Council.

"I'm so thrilled with the way that every one of these kids have stepped up and really brought their own passion to each poem, which is hard for young people because they don't have the same experience to draw from, so I am very impressed," said Anne Molin, area coordinator for California Poets in the Schools, about all eight of the contestants. "I wish I had the same depth of experience to draw from when I was their age."

Winner of the sixth annual competition was sophomore Michelle Linn from Glacier High School. Second place went to Jocelyn Boe, a freshman from Yosemite High School, followed by Olivia Pearson, YHS freshman.

For round one, contestants had to recite a poem of their choice from pre-20th century poems. Linn chose, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth.

"I loved imagining it," Linn said. "I just couldn't help but share it."

She picked "One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop for round two, when contestants were allowed to recite any poem of their choosing.

Linn said the poem -- about the art of losing -- resonated with her and was something she felt everyone could relate to.

"Michelle had such a presence on stage, but it wasn't an overwhelming presence," said Yosemite poet Dan Williams, one of the competition's three judges. "She dwelled on the phrases and words and let the words have a chance to resonate in the air. You could tell the audience was right there with her, catching not only the meaning of the words, but the beauty of the words. She allowed time and did an excellent job."

Linn received $200 for first, followed by $150 for second place and $50 for third.

Boe placed second with her performance of "Old Ironsides" by Oliver Wendell Holmes and "Under the Vulture-Tree" by David Bottoms.

Pearson took third with her performance of "I Find no Peace" by Thomas Wyatt and "The Obligation to Be Happy" by Linda Pastan.

Linn will advance to compete at state finals March 25 and 26 in Sacramento as Madera County's representative. If she wins there, she will compete at the National Finals in May, held in Washington D.C., where she'd have a chance at winning $20,000.

The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation began Poetry Out Loud in 2006. This year's competition was sponsored also by the California Arts Council, California Poets in the Schools, Madera County Arts Council, Sierra Telephone, Yosemite Bank and Oakhurst Sierra Rotary.

Honorary mentions went to Yosemite High School students Moira Chase, Brie Chism, Ciara DeBeck, Paizley Jackson and Antonia Mele.

Three area teachers -- Amy Weigel and Kellie Solomon of YHS, and Bruce Boe of Glacier High -- received a special thank you at the competition for helping recruit, advise and mentor contestants.

Judges included Williams of Wawona, a member of Poets & Writers, Poets in the Pines, and Poets West, Seattle, and whose poetry centers on the Sierra; Kim Haley, a poet who also lives near Yosemite and is a member of Poetry in the Pines, along with performing and working as a creativity and writing instructor; and Mikhael Brown, who founded Poets in the Pines and whose poetry has been published in "El Portalian."

"Voices can make a difference," Boe said. "It's incredible what a poem can do to change a person's thinking."