March 16, 2016, By Betsy Hammond.
Last year, when he knew “absolutely nothing” about poetry, teenager Mitchell Lenneville drew on his background in theater and made it to the state finals of the poetry recitation contest Poetry Out Loud.
After that, he dug in and studied the art form, learning more about the structure of poems and how to interpret them.
Armed with that knowledge, he approached this year’s contest with greater nuance and confidence — and won. The 19-year-old from Tualatin will represent Oregon in the national contest May 2 to May 4 in Washington, D.C.
Click here to read the full story.
Click here to listen to Mitchell’s interview on OPB’s Think Out Loud.