Olivia Carofano, Editor-in-Chief
For many student writer’s the satisfaction of filling a blank page with words that have the capacity to communicate emotion, feeling and beliefs can connect us to the people in our lives and shape us into who we are. The power of poetry and creative writing pieces can provoke a sense of purpose and resonate with us on a personal level. With words, we are able to express our beliefs and passions through a variety of mediums while also becoming proficient at communicating sentiment.
In the NCHS community, the English department offers contests such as Poetry Fest and Power of the Pen so that high schoolers have the opportunity to express themselves, their personal experiences, feelings and beliefs through writing to a general audience.
Poetry Fest is organized by English teacher Kristen Brown and hosted by juniors Natalia Cota and Lyla Cody as Masters of Ceremonies. This event provides a space where students can express themselves publicly. “The goal in my mind is to create an authentic place for students to publish their work; writing is meant to be shared, and poetry especially so,” Kristen Brown said. “Poetry Fest is open to everyone. All students are welcome to get up to the microphone and share their work with a live audience.”
This event is open to all NCHS students, and the only requirement for entry is that participants submit a poetry piece and come prepared to read it aloud. Junior Lily Sommers submitted her own piece to the fest this year and was excited to share it with her peers. “This is my first year submitting to Poetry Fest, and I will definitely submit again next year,” she said. “I thought sharing my poem was a great way to connect with my peers and express my emotions through writing.”
In terms of awards, there are four given to students with exceptional and commendable poetry pieces. “We give out four awards for Poetry Fest: Best Poem, Best Use of Imagery, Most Artful Language and Best Performance of a Poem. We also give out honorable mention certificates ,” Mrs. Brown said. Judging the poems is also fairly simple and requires a team effort from teachers in the English department. “The judging is fairly informal. I usually ask the English teachers in attendance to help me decide. We take notes on some of the poems as they are read, and we confer together to decide the 4 award winners and the honorable mention certificate winners,” Mrs. Brown said.
Power of the Pen is another annual event hosted by the English Department that allows students to share their creative writing pieces crafted in previous years of high school or produce original material for this contest. English teacher Maggie Hammil said, “Writers don’t produce work for teachers in school; they publish their writing for real public audiences. In an effort to provide our students with more authentic opportunities for recognition beyond the classroom, we created Power of the Pen, an annual NCHS student writing contest.”
This spring, there have been numerous submissions to this contest. Students are more open to sharing their creative writing pieces with the community and are eager to earn recognition for their work. “This spring for the 2025 Power of the Pen we received 121 submissions! We select 3 or 4 pieces to honor as winning submissions,” Maggie Hammil said. “The authors of these winning pieces receive a monetary award and each winning piece is published in NCHS’ annual literary magazine Spectator in June which I think a majority of students are excited about given the amount of submissions we’ve had.” Similar to Poetry Fest, Power of the Pen also awards honorable mentions for writing pieces that are praiseworthy. “We then select another 5 or 6 pieces to award as “honorable mentions.” Every student who submits a piece to the contest is given a Power of the Pen pen,” Mrs. Hammil said.
In regard to preparation for both events, English teachers Maggie Hammil and Kristen Brown work together to produce an event that welcomes all New Canaan students and families. “Poetry Fest requires a fair amount of preparation. I have to market the event, create posters for it, solicit submissions, create the book, purchase food and set up the room. It’s a frantic few weeks leading up to the event, but it’s always worth it,” Mrs. Brown said. “For Power of the Pen, Mrs. Hammil and I have to market the event and solicit submissions. We also have to read them all! We are currently working our way through a record breaking 122 submissions!”
At NCHS, there are numerous resources students can utilize to get feedback and guidance, such as the Writing Center. There, students can receive help on their poetry and creative writing pieces from English teachers during the school day. Students like Lily, have stopped into the Writing Center to polish up their pieces and get a second opinion on creative choices. “I made sure to stop in at the Writing Center to clean up my pieces before I submitted it,” Lily said. “Since I was working with a piece from sophomore year, I wanted to make the writing more sophisticated and add more rhetorical elements.” Mrs. Brown encourages students to take advantage of the Writing Center, as it is a resource that supports students and their writing. “Many students stop into the Writing Center for feedback on their submissions, much like they would for any writing piece. I encourage students to use the Writing Center so that they can polish up their writing and be very confident in the submission,” Mrs. Brown said.
Some students this year have submitted to both Poetry Fest and Power of the Pen to share their writing with the community and try something new. “This year, I submitted to both the Power of the Pen and Poetry Fest just to try something new and get out of my comfort zone,” Lily Sommers said. “I don’t normally like to share my writing, but this year I wanted to showcase my work over the years that I am proud of.” This school year, Mrs. Brown has noticed that more students have leaned toward Power of the Pen than Poetry fest in terms of submissions. “This year, we have more submissions to Power of the Pen but I feel that it varies year to year,” Mrs. Brown said. “I think a lot depends on whether English teachers have had time to complete a poetry unit before National Poetry Month (April).”
Both of these writing contests foster an appreciation for writing while also supporting student pieces that express creativity. “I think both events are wonderful opportunities for students to share their writing authentically. Writing is meant to be shared, and both contests offer students an opportunity to do that,” Mrs. Brown said. Lily believes that these contests have given her more confidence as a writer and that she will definitely be submitting to both contests next year. “Because I got out of my comfort zone by sharing my writing with my peers, I feel that I’ve gained confidence. It was a great experience to share my work with my friends, teachers and family,” Lily said.
All in all, these writing contests create an environment that impacts the student body by promoting the expression of beliefs and creativity while encouraging a setting that students can feel uplifted. “I think it’s always wonderful to celebrate students’ creativity,” Mrs. Brown said. “We talk all the time in the English department about our wonderful students and the wonderful things they are writing. It’s very rewarding for other students and faculty to share in that pride through these events.”
