SALT LAKE CITY -- Logan High School's MarKaye Hassan took third place in the national Poetry Out Loud finals on Tuesday, May 15, in Washington, D.C.
Kristen Dupard of Ridgeland, Miss., took first and a $20,000 scholarship award. Second place, and a $10,000 award, went to Claude Mumbere of Burlington, Vt. Hassan won the third-place prize worth $5,000 award. Each of the nine finalists, including Hassan, received $500 for the purchase of poetry books.
Hassan earned the right to represent Utah in a statewide competition on March 13. Moving on to the national level, she competed against winners from 52 other states and territories on May 14. On May 15, she was one of nine finalists.
Each competitor memorized and recited three poems from an anthology of classic and contemporary works. The poems Hassan performed were "I Felt a Funeral in My Brain," by Emily Dickinson; "Ego," by Denise Duhamel; and "Vixen," by W.S. Merwin.
Guest judges at the national finals included Garrison Keillor, host of "A Prairie Home Companion," poets Marilyn Chin and Major Jackson, PBS NewsHour's Jeffrey Brown, and Alice Quinn, executive director of the Poetry Society of America.
For more information, visit the Utah Arts & Museums website at http://artsandmuseums.utah.gov.