Final Competition for 2026 Poetry Out Loud Nationals on April 29, 2026

WHAT: Out of a field of 54 state and jurisdictional champions, nine high school students are advancing to the 2026 Poetry Out Loud National Finals on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. These young people will recite poems by historic American poets, competing for the title of 2026 Poetry Out Loud National Champion and a $20,000 cash prize. 

Poetry Out Loud is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with participating state and jurisdictional arts agencies and administered by Mid Atlantic Arts. It has reached more than 4.5 million students since it began in 2005. This year’s state and jurisdictional champions advanced from more than 130,000 students nationwide.

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, April 29, 7:00–9:15 p.m. ET at Lisner Auditorium, The George Washington University, 730 21st Street NW, Washington, DC. In addition, there will be a live webcast at arts.gov/Poetry-Out-Loud.

WHO: Hosted by actress Justine “Icy” Moral, who currently stars as Martha Jefferson in Ford Theatre’s production of 1776. Judges are Elizabeth Acevedo, Amanda Johnston, Jon Peede, Allison Pelegrin, and Brian Turner. The evening will also include a performance by dance company Step Afrika! The founder of Step Afrika!, C. Brian Williams, was recognized by the Arts Endowment with a National Heritage Fellowship in 2022.

2026 Poetry Out Loud National Finalists: 

• Alaska Champion Cassie Lumba, a 12th grade student at Juneau Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé 
• Illinois Champion Jaden Conley, a 12th grade student at Niles West High School 
• Indiana Champion Jayda Dawn, an 11th grade student at University High School of Indiana 
• Louisiana Champion Mallory Lott, a 12th grade student at Covington High School 
• New Mexico Champion Hadas Frish, a 10th grade student La Cueva High School 
• Rhode Island Champion Astrid Santos, a 12th grade student at Classical High School 
• South Carolina Champion Oona Borovicka, a 10th grade student at the Fine Arts Center 
• South Dakota Champion Damien Andre Deen, a 12th grade student at Washington High School 
• U.S. Virgin Islands Champion Joeltica Rogers, an 11th grade student at Charlotte Amalie High School

PHOTOS/VIDEOS: 

• Photos from the April 28 Poetry Out Loud National Semifinals (credit James Kegley) 
• Video interviews with the nine finalists and their poetry recitations

CONTACT: Media must send a request for coverage to coonsc@arts.gov by 5 p.m. ET tonight. Video crews covering the Thursday night national finals must arrive by 6:45 p.m. to reserve a space. No flash photography.