Poetry Aloud - Poetry Speaking Competition

Poetry Aloud 2009 - Winners announced!

Congratulations to all who took part in last Friday's Poetry Aloud Final at Wesley College, Dublin. Over 80 participants, along with their teachers, parents and supporters, travelled from all over the island to take part in the competition. Once again, the standard of entries was very high indeed and our judges had some difficult decisions to make.

We hope to have the opportunity to listen to all participants again for Poetry Aloud '10!

The winners and the runners up of the three categories are as follow:

Poetry Aloud 2009 - Latest information

Things are hotting up ahead of the competition final this Friday! Contestants and teachers, we'd love to hear about your experiences of the competition by email or on twitter (#poetryaloud).

Semi Final

Congratulations to all who took part in this year's competition. The list of those who will go through to the Semi Final can be downloaded below.

The Semi Final and Final will take place on Friday 4 December at Wesley College Dublin. Further information about the competition will issue to semi finalists and their teachers shortly.

Poetry Aloud 09

Preparations for this year's Poetry Aloud are well under way and schools should be receiving application forms very shortly. In the meantime, teachers can download the application form below. Please note that the deadline for submission of entries is Wednesday 30 September.

• Poetry Aloud 09 Application Form  poetry_aloud_2009_Poetry_Aloud3.pdf (0.20 MB, Adobe PDF)

Last year's Senior Category and Overall Winner, Sam McGovern, offers some advice to this year's participants:

Poetry Aloud has been one of my most original and enjoyable experiences so far, one I would recommend to anyone with an interest in literature, language, drama or public speaking.

For me, the most enjoyable aspect of the competition was the unique atmosphere of the heats themselves. It's hard to realise the pleasure that can be had in simply listening to poetry, let alone articulating it yourself to an audience. It's also a fantastic social event; students travel the length and breadth of the country to compete, all with some level of appreciation for the written and spoken word.

My advice for aspiring competitors is to choose your poems wisely. Do what you like, play to your strengths and ask for help. They say learning lines is the easiest part of an actor's job- true for some, false for many. Although this isn't acting per se, I think some of the same rules apply; know your stuff before you start learning it off. Your English teacher will be happy to help interpret the pieces. I also believe the most important thing is to let the poem speak, for it matters more than the speaker. It's recommended that you understand everything about your pieces i.e word definitions, references, metre etc. and that you connect with them personally. And of course, practice makes perfect.

Breaking News: Poetry Aloud wins major award!

The Poetry Aloud competition, run by the Library in conjunction with Poetry Ireland, has been honoured at a gala ceremony at the British Library in London at which poet Seamus Heaney was presented with the David Cohen Prize for Literature 2009 for a lifetime's achievement in literature.

In addition to winning the £40,000 award, the winner of the David Cohen Prize for Literature nominates the recipient of a subsidiary prize, the Clarissa Luard Award, worth £12,500. In nominating Poetry Aloud for the award, Seamus Heaney cited the extraordinary way in which the competition seeks to celebrate the joy of speaking and listening to poetry as well as the fact that there is a strong North/South dimension to the competition.

Aongus O'hAonghusa (NLI), Jane O'Hanlon (Poetry Ireland), Seamus Heaney and Andrew Motion

Poetry Aloud 2008 - winners announced at final on 28 November

Congratulations and thank you to the 800+ students who took part in this year's competition, the biggest Poetry Aloud yet! The semi-final and final of Poetry Aloud took place at the Library on Friday 28 November. Seventy-four contestants from around the country participated in the semi-final and twenty-four went through to the final round on Friday afternoon. The overall standard was very high and our judges had a difficult job.

The winners and runners-up are as follows:

Liam O'Brien, Junior Category Winner

Each runner up won a book token and a signed copy of Stepping stones: interviews with Seamus Heaney; category winners each took home a cheque for €300, book tokens worth €300 for their school and a signed copy of a Thomas Kinsella book. Samuel McGovern was announced the overall winner and won a specially-designed trophy and a further €200.

About the competition:

The National Library is committed to fostering a greater awareness and appreciation of poetry in younger people. To this end, the Library, in association with Poetry Ireland, organises and hosts an annual poetry speaking competition, Poetry Aloud.

James Peters - Intermediate Category Winner

Originally entitled Yeats Aloud, this competition first ran in 2006 to coincide with the launch of the Library's exhibition Yeats: The Life & Works of WB Yeats. The competition seeks entries from students attending post-primary schools on the island of Ireland. Thomas Kinsella, who celebrates his 80th birthday this year was featured as the prescribed poet in the first round of the 2008 competition.

Samuel McGovern - Senior Category and Overall Winner

Further details about the competition can be seen in the application form, available to download below:

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