Finding His Voice: Asylum-Seeking Teen Challenges U.S. Poetry Contest Rules

Zambian student in Maine takes legal action after being barred from national poetry finals due to immigration status

When Allan Monga arrived in Maine from Zambia last summer seeking asylum, poetry was the last thing on his mind. Alone in a new country, living at a youth shelter in Portland, and uncertain of his future, Monga says he struggled to speak to anyone.

“It was really hard for me,” says the 19-year-old. “I didn’t really know anyone. It was hard to trust anyone.”

Everything began to change when he enrolled as a junior at Deering High School that fall. One day, his English teacher played a video about Poetry Out Loud, a nationwide competition sponsored by the Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The contest invites students to memorize and perform classic poems — and awards prizes to both winners and their schools.

Curious, Monga began practicing poems for classmates and teachers. He quickly discovered that poetry could help him express the voice he’d struggled to find since arriving in America.

‘I Am the Smoke King’

One poem in particular — W.E.B. Du Bois’s “The Song of the Smoke” — struck a chord. When Monga performed it at Maine’s Poetry Out Loud state finals, his booming delivery filled the stage:

“I am black! I am darkening with song, I am hearkening to wrong!… The blacker the mantle, the mightier the man!”

“When I recite that poem, I feel powerful,” he says. “It’s like saying, ‘Hey! Look at me! I am the Smoke King!’ Everyone has to listen.”

With that performance, and two others, Monga won the state championship. But his victory soon collided with a rule that could silence him again.

A Rule That Excludes

According to Poetry Out Loud’s eligibility requirements, participants “must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents with a valid tax identification or Social Security number.”

Although Monga has a Social Security number, he is not yet a permanent resident, since his asylum case is still pending. Deering High School successfully appealed to allow him to compete at the state level, but the NEA ruled that he could not advance to the national finals, which begin on April 23.

Refusing to accept that decision, Monga — with the support of his school district — has filed a federal lawsuit against the NEA and the Poetry Foundation, arguing that the exclusion of asylum seekers from the competition violates civil rights laws.

“There are many students like me,” Monga says. “If we can’t take part just because we don’t have the right papers, it feels like discrimination.”

In Court: A Question of Access and Equity

In a hearing before U.S. District Judge John Woodcock, Monga’s attorney Kaighn Smith argued that the competition’s rules effectively deny educational opportunities that should be open to all students, regardless of immigration status.

“This is very much about the realization of an educational benefit,” Smith told the court. “He worked for months, competed, won — and now he’s been sidelined.”

Judge Woodcock appeared sympathetic, questioning NEA lawyers about why restricting eligibility for a poetry contest would serve the “national interest.”

NEA attorney Rachael Westmoreland countered that the agency must allocate its limited federally funded resources to individuals who are citizens or lawful permanent residents. She compared Poetry Out Loud’s eligibility criteria to other federal programs, such as National Science Foundation grants, which impose similar restrictions.

The Poetry Foundation, meanwhile, argued that it does not fall under the same federal anti-discrimination laws because it does not receive government funding.

Support and Symbolism

Monga’s case has sparked strong local support. Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and Portland Public Schools Superintendent Xavier Botana have urged the NEA to reconsider its decision.

“Allan has huge potential,” said Botana. “To stop him because of a rule that’s not just legally questionable but morally wrong — we couldn’t stay silent.”

For now, Monga continues to rehearse as though he’ll take the national stage. Yet he admits that if the court rules against him, he’ll be disappointed not only for himself but for other asylum seekers who dream of participating.

“I don’t want other kids to go through what I’m going through right now,” he says.

Judge Woodcock is expected to issue a decision by the end of the week. Whatever the outcome, Allan Monga has already done what poets do best — he’s used his voice to demand to be heard.