George Stevens senior to compete in “Poetry Out Loud” National Semifinals

Published: Apr. 1, 2022 at 7:03 PM EDT
Email This Link
Share on Pinterest
Share on LinkedIn

BLUE HILL, Maine (WABI) - The Maine Arts Commission has named a George Stevens senior Sofya Lantratova its “Poetry Out Loud” State Champion, the first such honor for a student from the school. She’s now entered in Poetry Out Loud’s National Semifinals, and the folks at George Stevens think she has a real shot at becoming the national champion.

Reciting poetry is one thing. Reciting it well is quite another. In her video submission for the Maine Poetry out Loud State Finals, Lantratova did it better than anyone.

“You’re not acting, but you’re also not just saying the words,” said George Stevens English teacher and poetry coach Martin Conte. “There’s some sort of middle ground between big verbose performance and really holding the language and delivering the language and Sophia absolutely found that sweet spot.”

An international student from Russia, Sofya has been reciting poetry since she was little, as part of tradition at family celebrations.

“I like dramatic poetry,” she said. “I like poetry with emotion, something you can really convey, something that will make my audience have goosebumps, something that will make them cry or laugh, something that provokes emotions.”

She’s representing Maine as one of eighteen regional finalists in Poetry Out Loud, with a chance to be one of nine people to move on to the National Finals. Conte says there’s something special about the way Sofya recites poetry, and wouldn’t be at all surprised if she does.

“Sophia has a very thorough and nuanced and complex understanding of the poems that she’s reciting for you.”

“You do put yourself in the shoes of the author of the poem,” added Lantranova. “You do put yourself in his life, or in her life. You’re becoming that person.”

With her submission to the national competition already in, the only thing left to do now is wait.

“The decisions are the judges,” said Conte. “The trophies, the awards, whatever, is not as important to me as her demonstrating being able to deliver poetry at a high level and that’s what she did.”

And when Lantratova was asked what she’ll do if she wins?

“I’m gonna jump around and scream for… at least a week.”

The Poetry Out Loud National semifinal will be streamed online on Sunday, May 1st, and can be viewed at arts.gov

Copyright 2022 WABI. All rights reserved.