Poetry Out Loud Winners Announced

Alycia Felli and Grace Griffin

On Friday, January 13th, the Poetry Out Loud semifinalists vied for a distinction as one of Franklin High School’s most talented young thespians.

The twelve contestants took part in two rounds of poem recitation, one which consisted of their original poems that finalists had recited within their class wide competitions, and a new poem of choice for the finals.

After two rounds of recitation, the judges took time to deliberate and choose winners based on their score.

Contestants were scored based on accuracy, presence, articulation, and dramatic appropriateness. Those contestants with the highest scores would place and one would advance to the statewide competition.

Backed by suspenseful music from the student group “West Village String Quartet”, Samhita Modak was named third place for her recitation of “The White City” by Claude McKay.

Anna McDonnell was named runner up for her recitation of “The Children’s Hour” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Finally, Ffion Titmuss was named the school wide winner of Poetry Out Loud for her recitation of “Lunar Baedeker” by Mina Loy. Ffion will advance to the statewide competition, where she will recite three poems and compete against the other Massachusetts winners.

All three placing contestants received a copy of Good Poems by Garrison Keillor for their hard work and excellence in the competition.

Alycia Felli interviews POL winner, Ffion Titmuss.