Poetry Out Loud is an annual contest held in high schools in every state. The school champions go to the state contest, the state winners go to the national contest — more about the whole thing here. This year, Gabby Johnson of Minot High was the state winner. Gabby calls herself "expressive," and that means she gave a great interview. You can also hear her do two of the poems that she recited to win.
Also —a special guest at the contest in Bismarck was Debra Marquart. She grew up in Napoleon, ND, and writes a lot about North Dakota, though she's been living in Iowa since the '90s. We hear two of the poems she performed for the audience at the Heritage Center in Bismarck.
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Poetry Out Loud is supported by the Poetry Foundation and HumanitiesND, and is presented by the North Dakota Council on the Arts.