On Wednesday, October 18, a group of 20 Rice students attended the annual Sundog Poetry event and workshop.

Larissa Hebert, the newest member of the English Department, is a member of the board at Sundog Poetry. The students joined others from BFA and CVU to collaborate, work on their poetry skills, and share their work.

The workshops included activities such as free-writing poetry based on creative writing prompts facilitated by Duncan Campell, a template poetry workshop based on “Postcard from Gone” by Leila Chatti and “Someday I’ll love Ocean Vuong” By Ocean Vuong after Frank O’Hara after Roger Reeves, facilitated by a former student of Hebert, Julia Remillard, and more. The seminars allowed participants to read aloud their own poems they wrote for the exercises, and give constructive feedback to support one another.

“[The seminars] taught [us] how to write more and improve a variety of skills,” said sophomore Lily Collins.

After the workshops were finished, students had a chance to get lunch provided by the event hosts and collaborate with others who may not have been in their group during the workshops.

Then, following lunch, students gathered in the church to hear keynote speaker Baron Wormser teach about poetry from his own experiences.

“Poetry doesn’t have a slip of paper in its pocket saying what it means,” said Wormser “Poetry is praise of being. Poetry is happy.”

Wormser then read poetry he found particularly interesting and enjoyed, such as “Afraid so” by Jeanne Marie Beaumont, which touched on the worries and anxieties of life, something many high school students can relate to.

Following the keynote speech, all poets attending the event had the option of sharing some of their own poems. Many students took this opportunity to perform pieces that they had written in the workshops or ones that they had already written.

Adult members of the Rice community also participated in the open mic session. Mrs. Hebert and Principal Nagy contributed their own poems, which allowed students to get to know their new teachers better

“It was interesting to see him in a different setting,” said Rice sophomore Liza Carney, “and to hear some of his interests and experiences reflected in his poetry.”

Many students said they enjoyed the poetry event and appreciated the workshops they had the opportunity to attend. Participants of the event were able to express themselves and understand their peers and teachers more through their own artistic expression as well.

If you would like to support Sundog Poetry so they can continue to give Vermont students the chance to connect with poetry, visit: https://sundogpoetry.org/donate.