AUGUSTA — Rose Horowitz of Mt. Ararat High School is the winner of the 2016 Poetry Out Loud competition on March 15, the Maine Arts Commission has announced.

Owen Sinclair from Rangeley Lakes Regional School was the runner-up. Both students will receive cash awards, and their schools will receive prize money to purchase poetry books for their libraries.

Poetry Out Loud was established in 2006 and is sponsored by the Maine Arts Commission. This year’s competition included almost 10,000 students in 46 public and private Maine high schools. After participating in classroom, school-wide and regional-level competitions, 10 state finalists gathered at the Waterville Opera House to recite three rounds of poetry from memory in the state final.

Horowitz recited three poems: “In the Basement of the Goodwill Store” by Ted Kooser, “Mrs. Caldera’s House of Things” by Gregory Djanikian and “On An Unsociable Family” by Elizabeth Hands.

In addition to Horowitz and Sinclair, other state finalists were Shiloh Munsen, Freeport High School; Lydia Caron, Bangor High School; Morgan Steward, Carrabec High School; Charlotte Benoit, Greely High School; Danielle Barrett, Hampden Academy; Sylvia Holland, Maine Coast Waldorf School; Anna Bucklin, Searsport District High School; and Ben Millspaugh, Waynflete School.

Thornton Academy Jazz Combo provided musical interludes under the direction of music educator Dave Stebbins.

As the Maine state champion, Horowitz will represent Maine at the National Poetry Out Loud Finals in Washington, D.C., from May 2 to 4.

Students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico will compete for the national title and a total of $50,000 in awards, including a grand prize of $20,000 and school stipends for the purchase of poetry. All prizes and materials for this program come from the National Endowment for the Arts and its partner, the Poetry Foundation.

FMI: www.mainearts.maine.gov, [email protected].