A Celebration of Words at the 2023 Paul K. Bergan Poetry Festival

Held for the second year in the beautiful and relaxed setting of the Schoolhouse lawn, the Festival launched Thursday evening with the lively and entertaining Open Mic event, which included singing and dancing. The much-anticipated Poetry Slam followed, where, by audience vote, freshman Lauren G. was declared the winner after moving the crowd with her vulnerable and eloquent original works, edging out senior Heidi D. and fellow freshman Ava D. who were named second and third, respectively.

Friday began with a morning of readings by Visiting Poet S.C. Says, an Austin-based slam poet who explored the concept of empathy. “Empathy,” he shared, “is one of the most powerful tools we have at our disposal right now to truly change the world around us. But it is pretty hard to have empathy for anybody if you don't take the time to hear any of their stories… We, collectively as human beings, are sometimes unable or flat-out unwilling to recognize our connected existence to the other human beings we share this planet with.” 

He went on to share several poems that made us all think about how we interact with one another and how easy it can be — even if we disagree with someone — to make a connection and find common ground if we try. His final charge to the audience was to practice showing one another purposeful empathy using three simple steps: be curious and pay attention, be willing to let others show empathy to you by sharing your full story not just the highlight reel, and do not abstain the differences but appreciate them.

Students spent the remainder of Friday exploring and creating poetry as each attended two of the 14 workshops held in both morning and afternoon sessions. The topics ranged from Calligrams (text arranged in such a way that it forms a thematically related image) and Concrete poetry (poetry in which the meaning or effect is conveyed by visual means, using patterns of words or letters) to nature poetry and limericks. In his workshop on spoken word and performance poetry, S.C. Says took students through his creative process.

Many thanks to all who made the Poetry Festival a success: to the entire English Department — Steve McCarty, Sidney Tilghman, and Emma Cesar — for organizing this event; to the faculty and staff who led engaging workshops — Regan Antila, Megan Barrett, Jade Do, Julie Fisher, Alexis Hall, Cathy McGehee, Alex Northrup, Erika Page, Rebecca Paulisch, James Sweeney, Nance Sweet, Michelle Woodruff, Mr. McCarty, Ms. Tilghman, and Ms. Cesar; to our guest poet S.C. Says for sharing his time and talent; to our enthusiastic emcees for Thursday evening juniors Eva C. and Emma L.; and most especially to each individual who performed, recited, and stepped up to share their voice with the community.