DAVID MAIR
Staff Writer
An English class of three students put on a poetry reading to celebrate National Poetry Month.
Poetry Writing 427 hosted a poetry reading in the fireside room of Garfield Book Co. on April 22.
English professor Enrique Barot teaches the class. He did not want to comment on the event because he felt the success of his students spoke for itself.
The class consists of two seniors finishing their capstones, Phyllis Holland and Jakob Maier, along with sophomore Cara Kneeland.
“The hardest part about the event was picking your favorite poet to read,” Kneeland said.
In preparation for the reading and the month, the three students requested their favorite poetry books to be in stock at Garfield Book Co.
The store was stocked with the students’ favorite books in addition to marking all poetry books 20 percent off.
Some books that were available included “Love That Dog” by Sharon Creech, “Kim Kardashian’s Marriage” by Sam Riviere, and the “Collected Poems of Langston Hughes.”
The fireside room was filled with about 20 people, 15 of which read poems.
“It turned out great — more people came than it looked like at the beginning,” Holland said.
Poetry read ranged from established poets, like Carol Anne Duffy and Nikki Giovanni, to original pieces.
People enjoyed cookies and juice provide by Garfield Book Co. while listening to poetry.
The audience could also be heard snapping excitedly after each poet, a customary sign of appreciation for poets.
While professor Barot left the credit with his students, he did want it to be emphasized “poetry classes are wonderful courses available for students to take.”
National Poetry Month has been a national month since its inauguration in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets. If interested in pursuing poetry at Pacific Lutheran University, contact the English department at engl@plu.edu.
