Love of performing leads Judge Memorial student to state poetry competition

Intermountain Catholic

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Utah Poet Laureate Lance Larsen (left) presents Nick Markham with a certificate as National Poetry Out Loud alternate following the state competition at Westminster College. IC photo/Christine Young

SALT LAKE CITY — Nick Markham, a Judge Memorial Catholic High School senior, competed in the state finals of the 2014 Poetry Out Loud recitation held at Westminster College March 12.

Ashlei Havili from American Fork High School was selected as the winner of the state competition. She will advance to the national Poetry Out Loud competition in Washington, D.C.

Markham was the alternate; he received a $100 stipend and $200 toward the purchase of poetry books for the Judge Memorial library.

To compete in the state competition, Markham first won the poetry slam competition among all the English classes at Judge Memorial CHS, and then the regional competition.

The state competition is part of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Poetry Out Loud is administered in partnership with the state arts agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

For the state competition, the competitors were required to memorize three complete poems: one that was written prior to the 20th century, one of 25 lines or less and one of their personal choice.

Judge Memorial English teacher Chris Sloan said Markham is an "amazing young man who won the Poetry Slam, and just today performed a one-act play with another student and last week performed the lead in Elephant Man, and today is reciting three poems in this competition. So to me, with his maturity and his focus – I wish I had more students like him. He is a really talented writer and a humble human being."

Markham is the layout editor of Judge Memorial’s national award-winning literary magazine for the second year and "he has a wonderful work ethic," added Linda Simpson, Judge Memorial English teacher.

In addition, Markham’s film will be screened at the Rose Wagner Theater for Spy Hop.

"It is an original murder mystery he wrote that was inspired by an Emily Dickenson poem," said Simpson.

"I love poetry and I feel like there are a lot of people my age who haven’t had that much exposure to it," Markham said. "I love writing in general – novels and short stories – and I didn’t really like poetry until I was exposed to it in high school. I feel like poetry has an extra freedom of not having to be so literal and make sense. It can take an abstract view of life and, in a way, through that lens you can understand the world or themes coming from poetry so much more than if it were literally given to you. There is an art to reciting poetry and I always love to perform in general."

To memorize the poems for the competitions, Markham secluded himself in his room and repeated the words over and over again, he said, adding that it took him about a half an hour for each poem.

At the regional competition, contestants memorized two poems for recital. Markham chose Monet Refuses the Operation by Lisel Mueller and For Love by Robert Creeley.

For the state competition, he added In a London Drawing Room by George Eliot. He chose this poem because it met the requirement of being less than 25 lines and pre-20th century, he said.

"The rules get more critical as I move up the competition, but I love the language of them because they are abstract. I choose abstract poems because I want to bring some appreciation to them; it requires more thought and they are more of a challenge to perform," he said.