06/07/2024
In mid-April, after working in the Fall 23 semester with student focus groups, we rebranded the CRAFT Fest. We began on Sunday, April 14, with Lee Bahan's wonderful hybrid New Works panel featuring Lee, Allison Joseph, John Drury, and Daniel Bourne. That afternoon, we hosted an awards ceremony for the 3-12 Grade Poetry Contest. During this hybrid event, the young poets read their prize winning work.
The centerpiece of our three-day event was Pop-Up Poetry Day. The day began with our keynote speaker, Patricia Smith reading poetry to a crowd of WCU students, faculty and staff as well as groups of middle schoolers from three local schools. In the months leading up to the event, I worked with several education students to develop educational, creative activities for visiting 3-12 graders. Simultaneously, I worked with our poetry center intern to create a festival environment for the college students. We had an open mic with poetry and musical performances, as well as tables with poetry prompts and literature and arts related student groups.
It was a lovely day! Hundreds of students of all ages enjoyed the activities. At the end of the day, we hosted the Spencer Awards—student award winners joined us, Ernest Hilbert announced the winners, and Donald Justice Poetry Prize winner Sunni Brown Wilkinson and Wil Mills Chapbook Award winner, Guy D’anofolo read their riveting work. Then, we closed the day with our Donald Justice Poetry Prize Judge, Patricia Smith’s phenomenal reading.
The festival ended with Poetry and Languages Day on April 16th planned in cooperation with colleagues from WCU's Languages and Cultures Department, Daniela Johannes and Gloria Hernandez. The curated readings and workshops with phenomenal Latinx poets Roger Santinavez, David Acosta, and Miguel Bacho, as well as a translation workshop with our beloved Rhina Espaillat. The day ended with a celebratoty reading of Global Poetry in translation.
A wonderful time was had by all! (Pictures to follow!)
