Poetry Out Loud is a National Recitation Contest created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation.  Contests are held at the state level.  Students attending participating schools, grades 9 through 12, and 8th graders who participate in a 9th grade class are eligible to enter.  Poetry competitions are held at the school first, winners progressing from there to the state finals.  Winners at the state level are eligible for competition in the National Finals in Washington, D.C., April 27th, 2010

At the Massachusetts Poetry Festival, October 17th, 2009, winners of the 2009 Poetry Out Loud competition in Massachusetts will recite, 12pm to 4pm.  This event will take place in the Victorian Garden in the Mack Building, Lowell, Massachusetts, at the University of Massachusetts.