Huddled into the corner of the library, students wait with anticipation, looking up at a black makeshift podium erected next to the fish tank, as boxes of burritos line the shelves. These students gathered in the library on Wednesday, April 30, to attend the 30th annual Poetry Fest. The event, organized by the Poetry Club, featured an open mic where students and teachers were invited to share their poems.
Poetry Club co-presidents and seniors Abby Silberman and Haven Montgomery opened the event by explaining the festival’s ground rules: be respectful, no phones and have fun. The festival had a wide variety of speakers, featuring students and two teacher speakers, Eric Colburn and Nick Rothstein. Silberman said that the librarians did the bulk of the preparation for the event and thanked Anna’s Taqueria for providing food for the celebration.
Silberman said that vulnerability headlined the event, and students spoke on every aspect of life, from summer camp to the struggles of moving to the United States.
“These poetry slams are a place for a lot of people to be vulnerable in ways that it’s hard to be in a high school,” Silberman said. “I think that the crowd makes the slam so inclusive.”
Montgomery kicked off the reading section of the festival, reading a poem on the color pink, and was followed by sophomore Merrick Jiang. Jiang’s poem “Ippity Boppity” was an ironic poem on life’s reality.
Junior Isatu Sesay shared a poem on her experience immigrating to the United States and the struggles she faced as she moved. Though she introduced herself quietly, as she recited her poem, every word rang clearly throughout the library.
“One thing that encouraged me to share my poem with the people today is that it’s my story. It’s a personal story. It’s about my life and my journey as an immigrant in the United States,” Sesay said.
The event ended with a tribute to English teacher Alison Whitebone. Montgomery spoke on how Whitebone and librarian Lynne Cohen had started the event in 1995 as a way to celebrate National Poetry Month, and then called Whitebone up to hand her flowers.
Whitebone said that she started the event because she loved poetry and parties and wanted an excuse to throw a poetry party. The event has been kept going by the librarians and the PTO and, according to Whitebone, the passion of the students.
“I think that the poetry festival invites students from every corner of the high school. Everybody comes together because they love poetry or they have something to say or they just want to hear what other people have to say,” Whitebone said. “There’s no competition, and everyone’s accepted.”
