Bring the written words to life through the power of reading and performance!
Books & Books at the Studios presents
The Great Works Speaking Competition.
Open to High School Students the Florida Keys.
Cash prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place contestants.
Registration has now closed for the 2021 competition.
We hope you’ll join us in watching this year’s competitors.
The competition is open to the public.
Saturday 10/16 at 2pm (Alternative Rain date: Sunday 10/17 at 2pm)
at The Studios of Key West – HUGH’S VIEW Rooftop Terrace (533 Eaton Street, Key West, FL)
Select a work of writing from one of the authors listed below (all of whom have lived or worked in the Florida Keys). Participants may chose works from authors not listed below but will be judged on the works connection to Key West and the Florida Keys.
“Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly – they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.”
-Aldous Huxley
On competition day each contestant will present their prepared reading as follows: Introduce themselves, their school, their author and selection, give a brief back ground and lead in to what the excerpt will be. Then they read it; a three-to- four-minute passage. No props or costumes, but with feeling and a nuanced voice.
This is a reading competition so contestants will not be memorizing their work but rather reading directly from the page. A group of Judges will access each contestant based on series of criteria ranging from their Reasons for Selecting that particular piece to Eye contact and stage presence.
“When you’re performing, you’re creating a moment.”
-Erykah Badu
Participants receive a Letter of Recognition and a line on their college resume, just for participating. The highest scoring readers will win cash prizes:
$750 – 1st place
$500 – 2nd place
$250 – 3rd place
Suggested Authors:
- Elizabeth Bishop
- Jimmy Buffett
- Ralph Ellison
- Robert Frost
- Ernest Hemingway
- John Hersey
- Alison Lurie
- Jose Marti
- Harry Mathews
- Joy Williams
- Tennessee Williams
- Other (contestants will be judged of their selections connection to Key West and/or the Florida Keys)
Register Online Now
Registration has now closed for the 2021 competition.