Dr. Daniel T. Moran Inspires Young Poets at Statewide Competition

Clinical Assistant Professor Dr. Daniel T. Moran served as guest poet and one of four judges at the 2012 Poetry Out Loud Competition State Final on March 11, which was held at the Old South Meetinghouse. The competition featured high school students reciting poetry, and the winner will represent Massachusetts at the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Competition held in Washington, D.C. in May.

The Massachusetts competition was put on by the Huntington Theatre Company and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Students competed first within their own school, then at a regional level, and then at the Final. Close to 20,000 students from Massachusetts participated this year.

Explained Dr. Moran, “Poetry Out Loud is a program which was very carefully conceived by my friend, Dana Gioia, the former chair of The National Endowment for the Arts, to bring a deeper sense of poetry to high school students by asking them to choose three poems to recite in a competition. They are coached and guided by their teachers in the understanding and then the recitation of these poems. They are judged by things such as their stage presence, the quality of their speaking, and the appropriateness of how they recite poetic meaning, and of course, saying the poem from memory.”

This was Dr. Moran’s first time participating in Poetry Out Loud, but he thoroughly enjoyed it and hopes to continue being involved in the future.

He explained, “My reasons for becoming involved in Poetry Out Loud are simple really. I love poetry and feel that it has a profound relevance in our lives to help us better understand what it means to be a human being and all that implies. Beyond that, I have always felt that encouraging young people to read and write poetry helps them to be thoughtful and reflective and to think beyond the obvious, to get in touch with all the complicated emotions they experience growing up, and to develop a peace and a confidence about themselves as individuals.“