Courtesy-Govdelivery.com/Indiana Arts Commission
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Arts Commission (IAC), the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Poetry Foundation, announced that Sreepadaarchana Munjuluri, a Columbus North High School junior, is the 2023 Indiana Poetry Out Loud State Champion. She will represent Indiana in the 2023 Poetry Out Loud National Finals.
It is Monjuluri’s second year competing in Poetry Out Loud. She loves exploring literature, not just in English but also in her native language Telugu, and Sanskrit. She also plays the violin and practices the Bharatanatyam dance. In the future, she hopes to be a global health advocate.
Munjuluri participated in Poetry Out Loud as part of the Indiana Humanities outreach program.
Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition for high school students across the country. This year, over 1,000 high school students across Indiana participated in Poetry Out Loud. Fourteen state finalists competed on March 4 for the title of State Champion.
Munjuluri receives a $200 cash prize and her school gets a $500 stipend to purchase poetry books.
The Columbus North junior will join students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa to recite poems on the virtual stage and compete for the title of National Champion. With the title comes a $20,000 prize.
The 2023 Poetry Out Loud National finals will take place from May 8 to 10, in Washington, D.C.
