On April 24, students had the opportunity to freely express their creative side by presenting original poems with the seventh annual Poetry Fest. The event, held in the Wagner Room at 7 p.m., was open to all students, to present a poem or to listen to their peers. Poetry Fest was organized by English teacher Kristen Brown, and was high in attendance with over 40 poems read.
Ms. Brown has helped out with Poetry Fest for the past six years, and love the diversity of people it brings. “It is open to all grades, which is one of the reasons why we really love the event,” she said. “It’s one of the only ways for all students to be included, so there’s no selection process. Anyone who wants to write something and share it is welcome to do so.”
The English department paneled the awards, which represented a total of four possible awards. “It was really hard to decide who received the awards because there were so many beautiful poems,” Ms. Brown said.
Junior Miles Turpin received Best Poem, sophomore Luka A. received Best Performance, freshman Caroline Kiesling received Most Artistic Use of Language, and freshman Katherine Mettler received Best Use of Imagery.
Miles Turpin has participated in Poetry Fest since freshman year. “I went that first time half for the extra credit and half out of curiosity. Curiosity eventually won me over and it’s the constant atmosphere of exploration that keeps me coming back,” he said.
The judges went back and forth to see who would win Best Poem, but they chose Miles’ for it’s powerful subject. “He wrote this really interesting poem that was inspired by Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night, so he wrote it about a character from that text,” Ms. Brown said. “It was a really powerful poem and as it turned out that was the poem that ended the night, so it was a really strong ending to Poetry Fest.”
Luka received Best Performance for his personal piece. His poem was addressed to Sarah, the birth name he went by before coming out as a transgender boy last year. “‘Letters to Sarah’ was more me, talking to a part of myself that no longer exists but still plays a huge part in my transition,” he said.
The judges and audience was impressed by Luka’s powerful reading. “It was a poem that earned him two separate rounds of applause. It seemed like an obvious choice for Best Performance,” Ms. Brown said.
Not only was the piece note-worthy to Ms. Brown, but it also caught Miles’ ear. “Luka’s poem was phenomenal, from his storytelling through a series of letters to his performance that matched the intensity of the content,” Miles said.
The other two awards, Most Artistic Use of Language and Best Use of Imagery, were given to two freshmen, Caroline Keisling and Katherine Mettler. “They just wrote really beautiful poems. They played around with language in really interesting ways,” Ms. Brown said.
Many students enjoy Poetry Fest because of the freedom they have with writing and performing poetry. “I’ve never been very interested in poetry before this event, but Poetry Fest showed a side to writing poems where no one was stressed over what grade they would get,” Caroline said. “Instead, everyone had more freedom to really talk about things that interested or affected them.”
Poetry Fest is kept going throughout the years because of the dedication the teachers put forth into organizing the event. Many teachers continue this effort because they see the benefit in giving students the chance to freely express themselves in a safe, open environment. “A lot of students shared really personal, emotional poems about difficult experiences they’ve been through either with their family or socially here at school,” said Ms. Brown. “That’s really telling because the event is clearly a place where students feel safe to share personal things, and I think that’s why it’s such an important tradition to keep going at our school.”
