Students usually expect the Mountain View High Library to be a quiet place to study or work in small groups. But for the Creative Writing Club’s first poetry slam, students transformed the library into a performance room with chairs arranged in a semicircle, handmade signs adorning the walls and even literary-themed stickers underneath audience members’ seats.
The club came up with the idea for a poetry slam last school year. However, the project only started coming together this school year, once the club board reached out to and collaborated with the school’s librarians, their adviser and English teacher Kristen Drolshagen and principal Dr. Kip Glazer.
With topics ranging from the natural beauty of pink skies to childhood memories, the 10 student performances included a variety of poetry styles. In one of the acts, sophomore Kaela Nguyen performed her original song “Independence” on guitar, which covered topics such as jealousy.
“It’s just so awesome that our creative writing club is putting together this idea where people can have an outlet to say something and it’s not faced with any backlash,” Nguyen said.
Overall, the audience turnout was much better than anticipated, club president Kimberly Bowman said, who was initially worried that only club members would show up.
“People came up to someone they’d never met before and said ‘I loved your poem,’” Bowman said.
While the club board initially considered making the slam a contest with prizes, they ultimately decided not to, as they wanted to foster an especially welcoming environment.
“Our club focuses a lot on collaboration and inviting a comforting atmosphere for all writers,” club vice president and senior Shriya Malu said. “It was very much the same thing in the poetry slam.”
Beyond providing a safe space for writers and artists to display their work, the poetry slam aimed to integrate art and literary work into a heavily stem-based school culture, Bowman said.
Malu’s central goal with the poetry slam was for audience members to start “building a love for poetry.” On a smaller scale, the slam also redefined poetry beyond rhymes, Bowman said.
Even though the first slam has finished, the Creative Writing Club is already planning to make the event a biannual or annual tradition.
“It’s a way of leaving a creative legacy for Mountain View High,” Malu said. “We’re just very thankful for everyone who came to support.”
