Past Declamation Day Entries
2012 - view photos here
2011
2010
2009
DECLAMATION DAY 2012 Entries
Winners in bold
"Ode to Criticism" by Pablo Neruda, 1956
Speaker: Cameron Hamlet
Excerpt from "See It Now" by Edward R. Murrow, 1954
Speaker: Ben Parson
Excerpt from Idylls of the King by Lord Alfred Tennyson, 1859
Speaker: Sophie Kaner
"Remixing America" by R. Zamora Linmark, 1997
Speaker: Maria Pedone
Excerpt from Moby Dick by Herman Melville, 1851
Speaker: Gavin Beeker
"Thanks for all the smiles" by GACKT, 2010
Speaker: Priscilla Velasco
"April Inventory" by W.D. Snodgrass, 1987
Speaker: Aidan Stone
"Like Lilly Like Wilson" by Taylor Mali, 2001
Speaker: Colin MacDonald (Runner-up & Audience Choice)
"The Dictator's Speech" by Charlie Chaplin, 1940
Speaker: Zack Hardy
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou, 1969
Speaker: Zainab Jalloh
"The Curtains Are Waving and People Walk Through The Afternoon Here and In Berlin and In New York City and In Mexico" by Charles Bukowski, 1967
Speaker: Christian Tyler Hoots (Winner)
"Knock Knock" by Daniel Beaty, 2009
Speaker: Tamisha Francois
The Creature's monologue from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, 1818
Speaker: Jimmy Vidal
Remarks on the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr by Robert F. Kennedy, 1968
Speaker: Timothy Colby
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore, 1982
Speaker: Bryana Scalley
DECLAMATION DAY 2011 Entries
"Life Story" by Tennessee Williams, 1937
Speaker: Amanda Robinson
"Twenty Something Betters" from Roxanne (film) by Steve Martin, 1987
Speaker: Carl Mead
The King's Speech to the People, by King George VI, 1939
Speaker: Garrett Gowen
"Race for the Sky" by Richard Pearson Thomas, 2002
Speaker: Gwendolyn Coburn
Closing Statement from the Dock, Nelson Mandela, 1954
Speaker: Joseph Kenneally
from An Unquiet Mind, by Kay Redfield Jamison, 1995
Speaker: Elizabeth Miller
"In the Waiting Room" by Elizabeth Bishop, 1977
Speaker: Elizabeth Adams
"Letter of Complaint" by Wendi Aarons, 2007
Speaker: Erica Simpson
"Shake the Dust" by Anis Majgani, 2006
Speaker: Ellen Trapp
"Chinese Novel" by Pearl S. Buck, 1938
Speaker: Stacey Hronowski
"Where Do You Get Your Ideas?" by Neil Gaiman, 1977
Speaker: Samantha Cardone
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Act I, scene ii, by William Sakespeare, 1601/1623
Speaker: Timothy Colby (winner)
from Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin, 1956
Speaker: Christian Hoots
"This Type Love" by Saul Williams, 2002
Speaker: Linda Tardif (Runner Up)
"How the Whale Got His Throat" from the Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, 1902
Speaker: Sophie Kaner
Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln, 1863
Speaker: Steve Darcy
7 tweet messages from prayforjapan.jp after the earthquake in Japan, various authors, since March 11, 2011
Speaker: Tatsuro Fukushima (Audience Choice)
President Evans' Address to Congress from The Contender (film) by Rod Lurie, 2000
Speaker: Nicholas Barton
Hamlet, Act III, scene i by William Shakespeare, 1599
Speaker: Maria DeRosa
Closing Speech by Lt. Col. Slade from Scent of a Woman (film) by Martin Brest/Bo Goldman, 1992
Speaker: Michael Spahr
"B" by Sarah Kay, 2008
Speaker: Jessica Hegarty
"Manifesto" by Nicanor Parra (translated by Miller Williams), 1968
Speaker: Laura Gail Grohe
"The Unicorn in the Garden" by James Thurber, 1931
Speaker: Esther Carver
DECLAMATION DAY 2010 Entries
“On the Decay of the Art of Lying” by Mark Twain
Speaker: Santo Mammone
from V for Vendetta (film) by James McTeigue
Speaker: Alexis Derr
"Thermodynamic Miracles" from The Watchmen (film) by Alan Moore
Speaker: Nicholas Ortolani
Patrick Henry's Speech to Congress, 1775
Speaker: Lauren Brooks
"Compliment" by Rives
Speaker: Brittany Costa (2nd)
"On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning" by Haruki Murakami
Speaker: Tim Howd
"Say Yes" by Andrea Gibson
Speaker: Samantha Creed
"Resistance" from Waking Life (film) by Richard Linklater
Speaker: Lindsay Orlov
"Gold-Rush Girl" by Jeanette Winterson
Speaker: Stacey Gonillo
"Bust a Move" by Young MC
Speaker: Dan Kendrick
"You Can't Have It All" by Barbara Ras
Speaker: Adam Petkus (3rd)
From Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
Speaker: Kim Feener
"The Minister's Monologue" from Synechdoche, NY (film) by Charlie Kaufman
Speaker: Christian Hoots
From The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
Speaker: Ellie Goerlach
"I Could Be A Poet" by Taylor Mali
Speaker: Caitlyn O'Brien (1st)
From Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
Speaker: Rita Brandt-Meyer
"Votes For Women" by Mark Twain
Speaker: Greg Hartofelis
"Sentimental" by Albert Goldbarth
Speaker: Katrina Turner
"Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout" by Shel Silverstein
Speaker: Christopher Cattel
"Cigarettes and Chocolate" by Anthony Minghella
Speaker: Emily Day
DECLAMATION DAY 2009 Entries
Winners in bold
“Don’t Blame Your Parents: The Nurture Assumption on Trial” by Judith Rich Harris
Speaker: Carol Grossi
“Everybody’s Free” by Baz Luhrmann
Speaker: Eric Rehm (honorable mention)
From “Six Non-Lectures” by e.e. cummings
Speaker: Mary Fegreus
President Thomas Whitmore’s address from the film “Independence Day”
Speaker: Andrew Ferlo
“Touching” by Gideon Grody-Patinkin
Speaker: Shiran Sultan (2nd)
“The Blues Lyric” by Garrison Keillor
Speaker: Tim Howd
“The Archipelago of Kisses” by Jeffrey McDaniel
Speaker: Ali Harrington
“Be the First Penguin” from “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch
Speaker: Samantha Creed
“Eurydice” by H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)
Speaker: Ellie Race-Moore
“If I Ran the Internet” by Rives
Speaker: Patriac Coakley
“A Quiet Road” by Sara Rosett from “Chicken Soup for the Military Wife’s Soul”
Speaker: Sarah Kaczmarek (3rd)
“A Brave and Startling Truth” by Maya Angelou
Speaker: Caitlyn O’Brien
Queen Elizabeth’s oration before the Battle of the Spanish Armada
Speaker: Adrienne Paquin
“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift
Speaker: Malgosia Tolak
Declamation Honoring Sir Ulrich Von Lichtenstein of Gelderland, from the film “A Knight’s Tale”
Speaker: Adam Petkus
“Tribute to the Dog” by George Graham Vest
Speaker: Matt Perry
“I Love You” by Mary Fons
Speaker: Anna Dynarski (1st)