Mia Ronn

2022 State champion
LOS ANGELES county

"I am thrilled to be a part of Poetry Out Loud. My biggest passions in life are performance and the literary arts, and to combine these passions is a dream! The arts are a place of expression, growth, understanding of others, and connection, and Poetry Out Loud brilliantly fosters all these facets of creativity. POL provides a place of catharsis and growth for young people, and I am honored to be a part of the process."

2022 Runner-Up: Shreya Nagunuri of Placer County

2022 Third Place: Calliope Klemme of Lake County

2022 Poetry Ourselves creative writing competition

First Place: Sierra Mayoral of Santa Barbara County
“Crossed and Cautious”

Runner-Up: Emma Hwang of Santa Clara County
“Wheelchair”

Runner-Up: Charlotte Burks of Fresno County
“Mama’s Porcelain”

Honorable Mention: Sidney Regelbrugge of Mendocino County
“Questions Asked in the Midst of Midnight”

Honorable Mention: Evelyn Jaime of Tulare County
“Pluto”

Eden Getahun

2020 State champion
Sacramento county

"Poetry Out Loud is a chance for me to express myself through the words of others, finding ways to empathize with new emotions and embody a different character. I love it!"

2020 Runner-Up: Aiyana Sha’neil Da’Briel of Los Angeles County

2020 Third Place: Gabrielle Trapse of Tulare County

2020 Poetry Ourselves creative writing competition

First Place: Malia Cruz of Napa County Untitled

Runner-Up: Cloitzel Mayte Ahumada of Colusa County
“La Batalla”
Honorable Mention: Eden Getahun of Sacramento County
“Forget”
Honorable Mention: Sadie Richert of San Luis Obispo County
“Photographs”

Lily Bogas

2019 State champion
Marin county

"I find this opportunity of poetry recitation a really beautiful practice to just come back to yourself, and speak from your soul, because in the end being sincere and true to yourself is really what people in the theater—and everywhere—crave to see in a performance."

VIDEO: Round 3:
Lily Bogas, Marin County

2019 Runner-Up: Penny DellaPelle of San Luis Obispo County
2019 Third Place: Jackson Dean of Riverside County

2019 Poetry Ourselves creative writing competition

First Place:
Zoya Ahmed of Sonoma County
“A Concerto of Spice”
Runner-Up:
Ceiba Cummings of Siskiyou County
”I was Your world”
Runner-Up:
Georgia Schreiner of Ventura County
“Alphabet Soup”

Alexis
Rangell-Onwuegbuzia

2018 State champion
Orange county

"The arts give me the courage to express my values with an activist's voice in the midst of the fear and ignorance residing on both sides of the ‘fourth wall.'"

VIDEO: Round 2: Alexis Rangell-Onwuegbuzia, Orange County

VIDEO: Round 3: Alexis Rangell-Onwuegbuzia, Orange County

2018 Runner-Up: Sage Innerarity of Sacramento County
2018 Third Place: Nicholas Panyanouvong of Stanislaus County