Poet Stacy Hill

Stacy Hill, a junior from Dos Pueblos High School, will represent Santa Barbara at the statewide Poetry Out Loud (POL) memorization and recitation competition in Sacramento on March 23. Hill took first place in the March 9 POL competition with a performance of Margaret Atwood’s “Siren Song,” a piece that was at turns sly, hysterical, beguiling, and humorous.

Hill will travel with her family to Sacramento where she will add Letitia Elizabeth Landon’s “Revenge” and Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est” to her repertoire. She’s up against high school students from 11 other California counties who are all vying for the chance to go on to the national finals in Washington, D.C.

The runners-up at the S.B. competition were Cayla Clark, from Dos Pueblos, who performed Niki Giovanni’s “Beautiful Black Men”; Garrett Brannon, from La Cuesta Continuation High School, for John Keats’s “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”; and Wei Jiang, also from Dos Pueblos, for Mathew Arnolds’s “Dover Beach.” In all, 13 high schoolers performed in front of a full house at the county courthouse’s Mural Room. They were joined by members of the audience who volunteered to recite poems; selections included works in Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, and Dutch.

Good luck, Stacy!