Oregon Poetry Out Loud contest features two Salem deaf youth

As 12 Oregon youth descend on Salem this month for the 2024 Poetry Out Loud State Contest, two Salem 18-year-olds will be expressing themselves without spoken words or sound but with their hands, and facial expressions.

Brayden Olsen and Traiton Kramer are two Oregon School for the Deaf (OSD) seniors among the high school students competing in the annual competition.

The annual contest unfolds 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 9 at the Salem Public Library’s Loucks Auditorium. The Oregon champion will advance to the Poetry Out Loud National Finals on May 2 in Washington, D.C.

Oregon Poet Laureate Kim Stafford will also make a presentation. The Salem event is free and open to the public.

The youth performers memorize and present poems, practicing public performance skills while exploring the complexity of poetry, noted the Oregon Arts Commission. Youths compete in statewide competitions after winning their school competitions and advancing through the regionals.

Both Brayden and Traiton are both excited to be among them.

“I love to perform in ASL,” said Brayden in a statement the Oregon Arts Commission provided. “I love the crowd watching me and expressing myself on stage. I am really excited about Poetry Out Loud!”

Traiton noted, “I am a creative guy. I love to draw and building with Lego. I feel best when I am out in nature. My favorite kind of poetry is music, or any poetry that expresses deep feelings. Expressing makes me feel better.”

The text of the poems Brayden and Traiton recite will be shown before their performances and also printed out for the audience.

Poetry Out Loud is a recitation contest organized in Oregon by the Oregon Arts Commission in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation.

Oregon led the way in ensuring deaf performers have a place on the Poetry Out Loud stage. The OSD sent the 2022 and 2023 statewide winners to the national level.

“All of the student performances were enthusiastic and heartfelt, which made selecting the finalists to move on to the state competition a challenge,” said Tiffany Harker, the Arts Commission’s arts education/Poetry Out Loud coordinator in a press release.