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A short summary of the event by Paula Nevins on Sept 22
St. Joan of Arc’s grade 12 English students were treated to a morning of poetry on September 15, 2016. The morning began with a Poetry Alive workshop with Mississauga’s First Poet Laureate, Anna Yin. Students learned about Anna’s winding path to becoming a poet and also got to flex their own poetic muscles with a bit of their own writing. Next, Ms. Yin was joined by two more poet laureates: Marty Gervais of Waterloo, and John B. Lee of Brantford and Norfolk County. The three poets amused and entertained students with personal stories of how their poems came into existence, and reading samplings of their published poems. The session was capped off by the three poets engaging in a “theme battle” wherein students got to pick a theme and the poets each got to respond with a resonant poem from their “arsenal.” Students were left with a memorable impression of the vivid presence of inspiration and poetry all around them, as long as they have the eyes with which to see it and the tools to capture the essence in words.
Paula Nevins
St. Joan of Arc C.S.S.
Department Head of English, ESL & Library