Illinois Poet Laureate Mark Turcotte visited Springfield for the 2026 Illinois Poetry Out Loud State Contest supported by the Illinois Arts Council, celebrating the voices of young poets from across Illinois. The Springfield Area Arts Council organizes the annual regional and state Poetry Out Loud contests that feed the national competition. The Poetry Out Loud program invites high schoolers to memorize and perform classic and contemporary poems—encouraging them to connect with language, history, and themselves in new ways. Turcotte, who read at the event and met with finalists, praised the students’ ability to bring authors works to life on the stage and off the page.
Poetry Out Loud stands apart because participants don’t recite their own poems; instead, they draw from a curated archive. Turcotte noted how remarkable it is to see teenagers find personal meaning in new and older voices. He notes poetry thrives again because it's more than just the dead poets many adults were raised on. He also shares respect for the subtle performance flair inspired by Chicago’s vibrant spoken-word and poetry slam traditions.
Turcotte shares his unexpected path to becoming the state’s sixth Poet Laureate. A member of the Turtle Mountain Band Anishinaabe, he spent years doing manual labor and traveling the country before landing in Chicago, where mentors helped redirect him toward poetry. Since then, he has built his career to the Distinguished-Writer-In-Residence in the English Department at DePaul University.
Turcotte offeres encouragement to aspiring poets of all ages: start by reading widely, notice the poetic impulses children naturally have, and let curiosity guide the first steps. He closed the interview by reading his celebrated poem Flies Buzzing—a powerful reflection on memory, culture, and becoming.
Three poems recited in this segment:
- Flies Buzzing - written and recited by Mark Turcotte (2026 NPR Illinois Studio A)
- You, If No One Else - written by Tino Villanueva, recited by Yohanna Endshaw (2024 Illinois Poetry Out Loud State Contest)
- Once the World Was Perfect - written by Joy Harjo, recited by Yohanna Endshaw (2024 Illinois Poetry Out Loud State Contest)
The Poetry Out Loud National Finals will be held in Washington, DC, April 27-29, 2026.
Transcript pending.
