Calling all County students: Don’t miss your chance to enter ‘Poetry Aloud’ with the National Library of Ireland and Poetry Ireland

Poetry Aloud is an annual poetry speaking competition open to all post-primary students on the island of Ireland, organised by the National Library of Ireland and Poetry Ireland, and supported by University College Cork. 

In a bid to encourage even more students to get involved, the organisers have extended the deadline to October 21st, 2024 for submissions from across Ireland.  

Sinéad McCoole, Head of Exhibitions, Learning and Programming at NLI said: 

“Poetry Aloud at the National Library of Ireland is one of the highlights of our year. Young people recite the words of poetry following Ireland’s great and ancient tradition of the bard.  

“This poetry speaking competition with post-primary students is incredibly special, and has developed what you could call ‘an alumni of talent’ since it first began in 2006. Thanks to our partnership with Poetry Ireland and ongoing support from University College Cork, we continue to grow the competition year on year.”  

Liz Kelly, Director of Poetry Ireland said: 

“We are thrilled to once again work with colleagues at the National Library of Ireland, UCC and schools all over Ireland to present our national poetry speaking project, Poetry Aloud. I am looking forward to hearing from young people across Ireland before the end of this month.   

“Poetry Ireland is committed to making poetry more accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds and this initiative is an important, and wonderful, part of our yearly calendar.” 

‘Poetry Aloud’ engages students with spoken poetry, building confidence and pride in the written heritage of the island of Ireland. Participants from three categories (Junior, Intermediate and Senior) learn one prescribed poem and one poem of their choosing from selected anthologies and compete at regional heats, semi-finals and the national final in the National Library of Ireland. 

To get involved, teachers should contact the team on poetryaloud@nli.ie. Submission deadline is 21st October, 2024. For more information, teachers and students can check out https://www.nli.ie/learn/poetry-aloud.   

ENDS