National Poetry Month Celebration

Thursday, April 9
Start Time: 7:00 PM

Join us for a celebration of National Poetry Month with Peter Balakian and the students of his advanced poetry seminar, who will read their own work and a selection of favorite poems.

Student participants include:

Luke Connolly '09: I am a Music and Philosophy major from Woodbridge, CT. My favorite poets include Stephen Dunn, Gary Soto, Bob Dylan, T.S. Eliot, Yusef Komunyakaa, Pablo Neruda, Richard Hugo, Saul Williams, Jim Morrison, and Friedrich Nietzsche. I think I am drawn to poetry because it is the music of language.




Carrie Coverdale '11: Hometown: Shaker Heights, Ohio.
Major: Chemistry / English with an emphasis on Creative Writing
I want to go into cancer research, but I have always been fascinated with writing.  I have been encouraged by some of my professors to incorporate my science knowledge into my poetry, but I am still struggling with this.  I am currently working on a project like Roethke's Greenhouse, where I have set my poems in a specific place, Estes Park, CO, using specific memories.

Loretta Douglas '12: Hometown: Seattle, Washington
Major: Undecided - I'm the only freshman in the class.
Favorite Poets: T.S. Eliot, Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Ntozake Shange, Allen Gisnberg
I have been writing poetry for as long as I can remember but have only recently begun taking classes in the subject. It's been an adventure trying to turn little phrases into something larger and worth presenting to my peers.


Nolis Espinal '11: Hi! I was born in Lynn, MA and currently live in Lawrence, MA. I am a Japanese major and hopefully English minor (Creative Writing). I began writing poetry in my mid-teens after reading Seamus Heaney's "Mid-term Break."  Something I enjoy about poetry is the fact that anything means something, and with the right line, you can bring forth everything that is, in your own unique way, because no one writes like you do. I am very avid about Neruda, Lorca, Plath, Rilke, Heaney, Roethke, C.K. Williams, Walcott, e.e. cummings, Elliot, Hayden, Alvarez, Frost, and others.

Erin Fenn '09: Hometown: Evanston, Illinois
Langston Hughes and Walt Whitman are two of my favorite poets.  I like the music of poetry, its ability to speak and to motivate. In a time when our country is in the midst of great change, poetry not only affirms where we've been but inspires us for the future. This connectedness is what I enjoy--it lies outside the limits that govern many aspects of our lives and creates anew.

Jihan Jude '09: I was born in Manhattan, but raised in Queens, New York. I am a Political Science major and Creative Writing Minor. Some of my favorite poets include Derek Walcott, Stacey Ann Chin, William Carlos Williams, and William Blake. I like poetry, because it was one of my earliest forms of expression. Poetry is unique from non-fiction and fiction, which I also like, but poetry carries a bigger punch in a smaller package.


Danielle Lanzet '11:  Hometown: West Orange, NJ
Bio: Writing. Chelsea Handler. Original Captain Crunch. Black & White . . . & Gray. Thai Cuisine. Working For The Crocodile. Soccer. Herringbone. Whittard Tea Of Chelsea. Annie Hall. 
Major: English
I concur with Jean-Paul Sartre's claim: "Words are loaded pistols."

Brian Miller '11

Westley Reed '09: I am a native of Colorado Springs, Colorado and am an English major with a creative writing emphasis.  I usually favor writing non-fiction, but appreciate the many ways in which poetry has allowed me to move out of my comfort zone and write uninhibitedly.  My favorite poets growing up were Shel Silverstein and Edgar Allen Poe, and I have really enjoyed reading William Carlos Williams and Sharon Olds in Professor Balakian’s Poetry Workshop



Elizabeth Rotenberg '10
Emily Steiger '11

Meriden Weems '10: I am from Los Angeles, California. I am majoring in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing and my minor is in Film and Media studies. My interest in poetry has stemmed from Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Beau Sia, and Saul Williams. I feel that the magic in poetry lies in the many stylistic ways one can use words to form meaning. I enjoy writing poetry because it challenges me to creatively explore subjects and convey meaning and a story in an artistic way.