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Home > Maine Things Considered > Maine Asylum Seeker Who Sued To Enter National Poetry Competition Knocked Out Before Finals
Podcast: Maine Things Considered
Episode:

Maine Asylum Seeker Who Sued To Enter National Poetry Competition Knocked Out Before Finals
Category: Government & Organizations
Duration: 00:03:00
Publish Date: 2018-04-24 15:30:03
Description: On Tuesday morning, 19-year-old Allan Monga of Westbrook stepped onstage in the first round of the Poetry Out Loud National Finals in Washington, D.C. He took a breath, exhaled, and recited W.E.B. Dubois’ 1907 poem, “The Song of the Smoke.” If it wasn’t for a federal judge’s ruling, that performance likely wouldn’t have happened, because while Monga won Maine’s Poetry Out Loud competition last month, he wasn’t considered eligible for the national finals because of his immigration status. When Monga immigrated to Portland last summer, he sought asylum from his home country of Zambia. That means he wasn’t classified as a “U.S. citizen or permanent resident” — a requirement to take part in the Poetry Out Loud national finals. Earlier this month, Monga took the National Endowment for the Arts, the festival organizer, to court and asked a judge to let him compete. Monga’s lawyers argued that the NEA’s rules discriminated against him and others. In a ruling on Friday, U.S. District Judge
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