Poetry Aloud

Poetry Aloud is organised by the National Library of Ireland and Poetry Ireland, with support from University College Cork. It first appeared under the Yeats Aloud name before taking its current title. Its long life is not just a matter of a recurring calendar slot: it gives secondary-school students across the island a reason to learn poetry aloud and bring it before listeners. Every entrant must carry both an assigned poem and a personal choice into the room. That combination keeps the contest from becoming either a simple memory test or an unrestricted performance showcase. Luke Power, the previous season's overall laureate, made an impression with Alvy Carragher's Among Treetops. The official account singles out the impact of his delivery, though it does not publish a score sheet or a formula for winning. Regional heats are adjudicated by qualified representatives of the National Library of Ireland and Poetry Ireland. To us, the telling feature is how strongly this contest connects reading to performance: students have to make the words intelligible and felt, without props or a script to hide behind. It is worth considering for a student who likes working closely with a poem and is willing to practise saying it to someone else, not just learning it silently.