Poetry comes to life at Teen Poetry Slam

Think cool, think loud, think fun -- this is not your high school

English poetry assignment.

April is National Poetry Month, and in honor of this, the Newport

Beach Public Library is hosting the Teen Poetry Slam.

Teens in grades seven through 12 will be expressing themselves

through original performance poetry and will be judged on content and

performance.

Need a little inspiration before setting a foot onstage? Just

check out some of these great teen titles, all available at the

Newport Beach Public Library.

Two anthologies that offer inspiration are “Blushing: Expressions

of Love in Poems & Letters” and “Poems from Homeroom: A Writer’s

Place to Start.” In “Blushing,” critically acclaimed poet and

anthologist Paul Janeczko collects the most poignant and moving

musings about love from a diverse group of classic poets and writers,

such as Shakespeare, Maya Angelou and Emily Dickinson. Kathi Appelt

showcases her own teen-pleasing poetry in “Poems from Homeroom.” She

describes the inspiration for each of her poems, asks a few questions

to stir the creativity of the young writer and throws in a few forms

such as the haiku and sestina to challenge a young writer.

If anthologies aren’t the key to awakening your creativity, why

not try a novel in free verse. Sonya Sones’ “What My Mother Doesn’t

Know” tells the story of Sophie as she follows her teenage heart,

dating sexy Dylan, secretly chatting online with her cyber-soul mate

Chaz and harboring a secret crush on geeky Murphy. Sweet and

poignant, and often laugh-out-loud funny. Who knew poetry could be

like this?

“Keesha’s House,” by Helen Frost, isn’t as lighthearted as the

previous title, touching on such topics as homelessness, teen

pregnancy and family problems. The author’s writing leads the reader

into the souls of her young protagonists. Frost uses sonnets and the

not-often-used form of sestinas to tell her lyrical story.

In “Shakespeare Bats Cleanup,” author Ron Koertge introduces the

reader to 14-year-old Kevin Boland, whose entire life revolves around

baseball. Diagnosed with mononucleosis and forced to stay at home for

months to recuperate, Kevin borrows one of his father’s old poetry

books and starts to fool around with his own poetry out of sheer

boredom. At first, he writes silly poems but soon is writing both

serious, funny and insightful verse. This novel celebrates the power

of poetry and writing in helping teenagers make sense of their lives.

The Newport Beach Public Library invites all students in grades

seven through 12 to participate (or just relax and listen to others)

in the Teen Poetry Slam at 7 p.m. Wednesday and celebrate the power

of poetry. For more information on rules, regulations and prizes,

please visit our website at https://www.newportbeach

library.org. Under the Events and Services menu, click on Teen

Center link.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public

Library. This week’s column is by Terri Wiest. All titles may be

reserved from home or office computers by accessing the catalog at

https://www.newportbeach

library.org. For more information on the Central Library or any of

the branch locations, please contact the Newport Beach Public Library

at (949) 717-3800, option 2.