Oregon School for the Deaf student advances to national poetry contest

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Emma Keen wants people to know she’s not really a sad person, at least not completely.

Keen, a high school junior at Oregon School for the Deaf in Salem, was recently crowned the state’s 2026 Poetry Out Loud champion.

She chose to recite “Low-Tide,” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, “From One Who Stays” by Amy Lowell and “I am Like a Leaf” by Yone Noguchi.

“I picked the poems for one reason, which was that they’re mainly sad, and for some reason it’s just easier for me to perform sad poems,” she said. “Sadness is a part of me and Poetry Out Loud helps me express that in my way and in my deaf culture type of way.”

Keen, 16, received the top score at the competition, held March 7 in Salem, and now will represent Oregon at the Poetry Out Loud National Finals, April 27-29, in Washington, D.C.

“I definitely did not expect to be going to nationals,” she said. “I’ve never ever done something like this before, but I’m so glad I am able to.”

One of Keen’s teachers, Gayle Robertson, encouraged her to participate in Poetry Out Loud.

Keen was told she didn’t have to perform in-person for the school-level contest, she said.

“So, I thought why not, I’ll join just for fun,” she said. “I became more invested into poetry because I’m able to perform sad poems. I think it’s an interesting experience for me to practice with.”

During Poetry Out Loud, students recite works in a dynamic competition and performance.

They select poems from an anthology, memorize them and are judged on criteria such as physical presence, voice and articulation and dramatic appropriateness.

Deaf students translate the poems they’ve chosen from English into American Sign Language, which uses hands and facial expressions to communicate. During their performance, the audience receives a written version.

“I would say for me, it’s obviously more visual and I think if the judges can understand what I’m doing or signing about then that’s a good thing for me because it means I’m clear enough,” Keen said.

“For hearing people, they change their tone to match their story but for deaf people we change our face expressions to match our story,” she said. “I like being able to sign and stay silent and just let my hands and face do the work for me, you know?”

During the competition, Keen said, “I genuinely thought I was going to be focused on the audience and who was watching but all of that went away when I went on stage. After saying the title and I started signing, all that mattered to me in the moment was the poem and getting the right message out there and not forgetting my lines, which I almost did a few times, but we don’t need to talk about that.”

Keen is a lifelong Salem resident and has two brothers.

When she’s not practicing poetry, Keen participates in drama club and is the school’s student body president.

“I also take pictures for my yearbook class, and stay after school in the dorms to hang out with my lovely friends,” she said. “I always enjoy it.”

Keen plans to attend college after graduation, and hopes to become a photographer.

“I think that would be a nice job for me because I can be on the sidelines and seeing other people live their best lives and I get to take pictures of it,” she said.

Since 2005, more than 4.5 million high school students across the nation have participated in Poetry Out Loud. The program in Oregon is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Oregon Arts Commission and jurisdictional arts agencies.

The Oregon School for the Deaf has had multiple state champions in recent years, including Kari Morgan in 2023, Trayshun Holmes-Gournaris in 2022 and Tiffany Hinano Hill in 2009.

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Tracy Loew covers education at the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips: tloew@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6779. Follow her on X at @Tracy_Loew