On Thursday, March 1, about 250 people came to the University of Arizona Poetry Center to watch and listen to great poetry performed in dramatic fashion by high school students throughout Southern Arizona as they competed for the chance to proceed to the Poetry Out Loud State and National Finals competition. The event was hosted by nationally renowned cartoonist and columnist for the Arizona Daily Star David Fitzsimmons.

Patrick Fanning, from the Arizona Commission on the Arts and manager of Arizona Poetry Out Loud says:

"I cannot begin to tell you how exhilarating every competition leaves me feeling. Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Southern Region Competition in Tucson, which was skillfully administered by our partner, the Poetry Center at the University of Arizona. The event was very well attended and included representatives of the local press, members of the Tucson City Council and Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild. Every year the competition enjoys growth in both student participation and audience attendance."

Read the rest of Fanning's article here.

The winners of the Southern Region Competition are Joshua Furtado of Tucson High Magnet School, Cassandra Valadez of Sunnyside High School in Tucson, and Mark Anthony Niadas of St. Augustine Catholic High School in Tucson (pictured above; photograph by Jeff Smith).

The National Poetry Out Loud Competition was created by the National Endowment of the Arts and The Poetry Foundation. Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest encourages the nation's youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation.