2026 Poetry Out Loud National Semifinals (Region 1)

Reciting poetry from an anthology that celebrates historic American voices, state and jurisdictional champions competed for the national champion title and a $20,000 cash prize. Region 1 included champions from Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia. Poetry Out Loud is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with participating state and jurisdictional arts agencies and administered by Mid Atlantic Arts. It has reached more than 4.5 million students since it began in 2005. This year’s state and jurisdictional champions advanced from more than 130,000 students nationwide. Learn more at poetryoutloud.org. Amelia Rylak 0:05:29 Joy Ogunsakin 0:09:00 Gülse Polat 0:11:31 Xariel Banton 0:13:32 Joeltica Rogers 0:17:01 Summer Lin Brackett 0:19:55 Astrid Santos 0:23:51 Eason M. DeMarsico-Thorne 0:26:33 Sarah Seidu 0:28:36 Caliyah McCall 0:32:00 Oona Borovicka 0:36:20 Natalia Gatti 0:39:12 Nyla Dinkins 0:43:10 Meghan Rivard 0:46:41 Isabella Romero 0:48:45 Emma Rose Frisbie 0:50:58 Nia Cao 0:53:52 Amelia Rylak 1:00:14 Joy Ogunsakin 1:02:18 Gülse Polat 1:03:51 Xariel Banton 1:06:14 Joeltica Rogers 1:09:07 Summer Lin Brackett 1:11:09 Astrid Santos 1:14:04 Eason M. DeMarsico-Thorne 1:16:07 Sarah Seidu 1:17:48 Caliyah McCall 1:21:16 Oona Borovicka 1:23:54 Natalia Gatti 1:26:25 Nyla Dinkins 1:27:44 Meghan Rivard 1:29:26 Isabella Romero 1:31:27 Emma Rose Frisbie 1:33:02 Nia Cao 1:36:56 Joy Ogunsakin 1:49:37 Joeltica Rogers 1:52:14 Astrid Santos 1:54:26 Sarah Seidu 1:56:17 Caliyah McCall 1:58:27 Oona Borovicka 2:01:11 Nyla Dinkins 2:02:59 Nia Cao 2:05:02