Finding Belonging: A Conversation with 2026 Poetry Out Loud Champion Jayda Dawn

This past spring, after reciting poems by Langston Hughes, Alice Duer Miller, and Albery Allson Whitman, Jayda Dawn, then an 11th grade student at University High School of Indiana in Carmel, Indiana, was named 2026 Poetry Out Loud National Champion and winner of a $20,000 grand prize. As she stepped forward beneath a flutter of rainbow confetti, she cried happy tears—along with many of her fellow competitors, who were overjoyed to see her succeed.

That moment captured the spirit of Poetry Out Loud. While it may be a competition, the program’s true rewards are the connections students form along the way—with classmates, teachers, coaches, fellow champions, and even the poems themselves. After months of close study, students often say their chosen poems begin to feel like friends. Dawn felt that, too: her bond with the words she memorized ran deep.

“Being able to live with these words is such a wonderful opportunity that not everyone is fortunate enough to have,” she said.

A few months after the finals, we caught up with Dawn to hear her reflections on the Poetry Out Loud experience.

National Endowment for the Arts: Take me back to that moment when you were named Poetry Out Loud national champion. What did that feel like?

Jayda Dawn: I think once my name was finally called, I was overwhelmed with emotions backstage. Before any of the three names were called, me, Damien (second place winner), and Jayden (third place winner) were all holding hands backstage, just trying to calm each other down and make sure that we were all breathing. 

So when I did finally come out, it was just really overwhelming to see my mom and my coach out there and then all of the people who I had met during this experience really cheering me on. It was a really great, thrilling experience...a one-of-a-kind thing that you don't really get anywhere else.

NEA: How did you get involved in Poetry Out Loud? 

Dawn: This was my first year competing in Poetry Out Loud, as well as the first time I had ever heard anything about it. Our head of school here at University High School, Alicia LaMagdeleine, is a poet herself, and so she was really big on reintroducing this program into our school.

As soon as I heard about it, I was immediately all in. You don't get a lot of opportunities to do something so special and specific like this in the world of poetry. 

NEA: You mentioned in your National Finalist video interview that your dad is a poet, so you've been familiar with poetry throughout your whole life. How has that informed your experience? 

Dawn: Poetry is one of those really sacred forms of art. It's not on the grand scale as musical theater, [but] I think that's what makes it so special.

Being able to participate and then eventually win Poetry Out Loud coming from someone whose dad was a poet, hearing all of his poetry as a child, it's a really special full circle moment for me. 

NEA: How would you describe your Poetry Out Loud experience in just three words?

Dawn: Exhilarating, shocking, and belonging.

NEA: Can you choose one of those words and expand on it? 

Dawn: The word I choose is belonging. Coming in, I didn't really know what to expect from this competition. I didn't know who any of the judges were going to be, any of the participants that I was going to meet along the way. But once I did finally get to Nationals and we had that meet and greet on the very first night, I did not feel like I stood out at all. 

I felt like I had really found my place with these people, because it's not often you're standing in a room of young artists with the same interest in poetry as you. Being able to be there just in that space was very special, and I really, truly felt like I belonged there. 

NEA: What was it like to meet the other state and jurisdictional champions from all over the country? 

Dawn: It's a really special experience. By the end of the competition, we were all good friends in this short amount of time. That really goes to show that our students need these experiences, and that art has a way of bringing people together, especially young people.

NEA: We just launched the 2026-2027 program. Is there any advice you have for students who are considering getting involved in POL?

Dawn: I would tell anyone who's thinking about joining Poetry Out Loud: don't go in just to win it. You should go into it to have the experience, even if you don't advance past school, even if you don't advance past state, along the way, you'll have so many great experiences. 

Just sitting and being able to live with these words is such a wonderful opportunity that not everyone is fortunate enough to have. Realize how special this opportunity is for you and really take advantage of it.

NEA: Will poetry remain a part of your life going forward? 

Dawn: Poetry will always be a part of my life, forever. It truly is everywhere, in music, rap. Wherever I'll go, it'll always follow me. And of course, I'll always remember this experience. 

NEA: Anything else you’d like to add? 

Dawn: I really can't emphasize enough, [my fellow Champions] are people that I've made lifelong friends with.

I'm also grateful for all of the opportunities that have come after this and that I've been
afforded because of Poetry Out Loud. I'm just so eternally grateful to everyone who made this possible.