Joy Ogunsakin will compete for the national title in Washington D.C. next week
RED BANK – Joy Ogunsakin, a senior from Trinity Hall in Tinton Falls, was named champion at the 2026 New Jersey Poetry Out Loud State Finals, part of the National Poetry Out Loud recitation program. The adjudication took place last month at Count Basie Center for the Arts https://thebasie.org/.
Joy will represent New Jersey at the Poetry Out Loud National Finals in Washington D.C. April 27 to 29. State champions will compete for the national Poetry Out Loud title and the chance to win prizes, including college scholarships.
Evelynn Knox, a sophomore from Henry Hudson Regional School in Highlands, earned the runner-up spot.
Poetry Out Loud https://www.njpol.org/ is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition for high school students nationwide.
Students choose poems to recite from an anthology. This year’s anthology focused on poems that relate to America’s 250th anniversary. A highlight of Joy’s finals performance was her recitation of the Langston Hughes poem, “Blues Fantasy.”
“The Count Basie Center for the Arts is once again proud to partner with the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and serve as the state’s home for Poetry Out Loud,” said Adam Philipson, president and CEO of Count Basie Center for the Arts. “Each year, this program gives students a powerful platform to express themselves by sharing the poetry that reflects their own voices. We congratulate all of this year’s participants and look forward to supporting Joy at the national competition.”
The state final was the culmination of a statewide initiative that began in the fall of 2025 and included 10,758 New Jersey students from 68 high schools and organizations across New Jersey. “For the past 20 years, Poetry Out Loud has been one of the State Arts Council’s cornerstone arts education programs. The talent and dedication of the participating students is truly inspiring,” said Allison Tratner, executive director of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. https://nj.gov/state/njsca/ “And we are grateful to the educators, administrators, family members, and friends who supported the students and this program from the beginning. New Jersey has historically been one of the most engaged states in this national program, and that is due to the collective belief in the power of arts education and the priority placed on providing avenues for young people to express themselves. We look forward to cheering on Joy as they represent New Jersey in Washington D.C.”
For more information about New Jersey Poetry Out Loud and the state finals, visit njpol.org. To watch a video recap of the competition and highlights of Joy’s moving performance, visit the NJ Poetry Out Loud YouTube Channel @njpoetryoutloud1582.
The article originally appeared in the April 23-April 29, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
