ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT REMINDERS: 

• You must be a resident of Massachusetts.
• You must be in grades 9-12 in order to be eligible to participate.  
• Participants may only be registered in one program path. If your school is registered, you must participate in that path.  
• You must read through the anthology found on Poetry Out Loud’s website and select three poems – https://www.poetryoutloud.org/ 
  • Contestants must have 3 poems prepared. One must be 25 lines or fewer, and one must be written before the 20th century. The same poem may be used to meet both criteria, and may be the student’s Round Three Poem. 

Registration Deadline:  Wednesday, November 26, 2025 

Contest Date – this is the date that video submissions are DUE:  Friday, December 19, 2025 

Every individual registered must participate in this contest.  

As with schools and organizations, only one student from the individual cohort will advance to the semi-finals.  

Please submit your performance video by the date listed.  Videos will be reviewed and evaluated by Friday, January 9, 2026. 

Poetry Out Loud Individual Registration