Tiara Rowell, a junior at Foley High School, will represent the twelve counties in Alabama’s Region1 in the State Finals of Poetry Out Loud on Monday, Feb. 18 at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery. She will compete against 13 other students from across the state.

Poetry Out Loud (www.poetryoutloud.org) is a national recitation competition for high school students, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Beginning at the classroom level, winners advance to school-wide competition, to regional competition, to state competition, and ultimately to the National Finals. The Alabama State Council on the Arts, in partnership with the Alabama Alliance for Arts Education and four regional partners, administers the program in Alabama. Mobile Arts Council serves as the Region 1 partner, coordinating activities in 12 southern counties.

For the finals, each contestant must prepare three poems by memory, chosen from the Poetry Out Loud anthology. One poem must be 25 lines or fewer, and one must have been written before the 20th century. Rowell selected works by three women poets: “Time Does Not Heal. You All Have Lied” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Enough” by Suzanne Buffam, and “Echo” by Christina Rossetti.

Rowell’s hobbies, in addition to reading and writing, include video gaming, wakeboarding and soccer.

The 2013 Alabama Poetry Out Loud State Finals begin at 2 p.m. Feb. 18, at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival (1 Festival Dr., Montgomery, and the public is welcome to attend, free of charge. The winner of the state finals will travel to Washington, D.C. to compete in national finals in late April.