Each year, students across Arizona participate in Poetry Out Loud, a national program that invites high schoolers to engage deeply with poetry through memorization, performance, and interpretation. The poems in the 2025–2026 Poetry Out Loud anthology reflect voices from the past, shaped by earlier moments in American history and culture.

The Unsaid was created to explore how students respond to those poems today. Through guided prompts, participants were invited to write beside the anthology—questioning, extending, or translating a selected poem into their own time, language, and experience.

The pieces gathered in this digital anthology reflect the thoughtful, creative ways students read and respond to literature. We thank the students who chose to participate in The Unsaid, and we celebrate all 2025–2026 Arizona Poetry Out Loud participants.

View The Unsaid anthology here!