Not everyone is blessed with the gift of poetic ability. To tame the wild mangles of emotion and transform them into works of art is no easy feat. For five students, however, it’s a way of life.
Last Wednesday, Katherine Thorpe ’06, Eric Weiskott ’09, Emily Seife ’06, Margaret Trissel ’07 and Chase Wilson ’06, all winners of this year’s Connecticut Poetry Circuit Contest, read their poems aloud at Russell House in front of an audience that filled the room to capacity.
Wesleyan has been involved with the Conneticut Poetry Circuit since 1970. Contestants submit five pages of poems, which are read anonymously by a panel of judges.
“This year we had 61 entries in the poetry contest, the largest number ever, and the judging was very difficult,” said Nancy Alberts, Russell House coordinator. “Professor Willis read them all over break and selected the winners.”
Each of the student poets read selections of their work, which will be published in a book that will be available for purchase in January.
Despite the bristling cold that had set in by 8:00p.m., it was cozy inside— the bodies of eager listeners and the warm beverages provided by Russell House created a welcoming respite from the bone-chilling winds outside.
Weiskott read several of his poems aloud with an immaculate articulation, demonstrating a fine ear for the nuances of language.
“I started writing poetry my freshman year of high school, but a love of language has always been a part of my life,” said Weiskott.
He said that his primary interest with poetry is in examining the language itself.
“Language is the only context we have for the world,” he said. “I love how poetry has the power to examine itself with its own words.”
The poetry that Weiskott shared also reflected his love of image-based poetry: his poems contained unique combinations of words and phrases that left distinct images in the minds of his listeners.
Thorpe is writing her senior thesis on poetry, but the poems she chose to share were written as a separate project. While interning at the Fine Arts Work Center in Princetown, Mass. this summer, she took a multitude of writing classes. It was there that she began to develop a series of poems that centered on the theme of orphans.
“Right now I’m trying to read lots of different poetry to develop an ear for style,” said Thorpe. “I like playing around with different forms and try not to confine myself to one particular style.”
Thorpe said that in both reading and writing poetry, she continues to be fascinated by the transformations of objects. Different poets often use the same object or idea to illustrate different concepts and scenarios, she said, and it is this transformation of the same object into different abstract images that she enjoys most.
After the readings, the student poets were greeted by an enthusiastic applause and a showering of praise from Nancy Albert, sponsor of the contest.
Thorpe’s poems will be sent on the Connecticut Poetry Circuit as Wesleyan’s candidate for consideration at the statewide level. The five Connecticut State Poets selected by this committee will tour the state in February, and will read at many campuses, including Wesleyan.
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