The Wandering Quill
A Literary Evening at WH Smith
Pat Danahey Janin, Project Coordinator and parent
Roughly 70 people gathered at WH Smith, rue de Rivoli for 90 minutes to listen to students, teachers and writers present their texts, selected passages of known authors or their original work. A perfect demonstration of the dynamics that are at work within the program at SIS.
Back in September, as a new parent to the SIS secondary program, I attentively listened to the English section teachers present their projects: a yearbook, a trip to England, an exchange with Indianapolis and a Literary Evening with the Wandering Quill literary magazine.
The last one caught my attention. What does that mean to middle and high school students? How would that actually take place? I volunteered to be part of this literary adventure and contacted Maryama Antoine, the heart and soul of this project.
Juggling class work, tests and essays, the students on the Editorial Board managed to select the texts, photos and drawings contributed by the SIS students that would make up the magazine’s second edition. We set a date, determined the format of the evening, and I set out to find the venue in Paris.
They had the content, the inspiration and the desire to share
My actual input was minor but it helped bring these talented people together for an evening of appreciation for the written word in English, French and German. I worked on the form; they had the content, the inspiration and the desire to share.
What an evening it was! Roughly 70 people gathered at WH Smith, rue de Rivoli for 90 minutes to listen to students, teachers and writers present their texts, selected passages of known authors or their original work. Imagine the crowd, the diversity of ages, the anticipation of what would take place.
It all started with an open mike session - a daring adventure for the shy. But the desire to share was stronger and the moment the first young woman read her short but touching poem, the evening took off and we all went on an imaginary trip to far away places in our minds, our hearts and understanding of words. We then tuned into the harsh language of Howl by Ginsberg, so startling, bothersome and real.
Many texts were invitations to get in touch with our inner poetic side
John Noonan, our feature poet brought us into the streets with the sights and sounds of the city. His poetry, spoken and sung, brought us into the musicality of the words and rhymes which was echoed in the second open mike session by the different languages used to present the selected works. We were soothed by the soft melodic rhymes of Baudelaire.
Kafka’s poem read in German with much feeling felt intimate and personal. Many texts were invitations to get in touch with our inner poetic side, to connect it to others and find that beauty through words.
The youngest participants were eye catchers for their original texts, humorous, touching and sad, as well as their confidence in front of the audience. They demonstrated that the love of writing starts young. The Editorial Board shared passages from Toni Morrison’s novels heightening the emotion as well as a preview poem from the Wandering Quill.
The evening was a balanced mix of students, teachers and parents/writers who gave life to their work. We all appreciated the book lined shelves of WH Smith, a long time partner of the SIS program, which proved to be the right setting and provided additional inspiration.
Now I know what a literary evening means to these students - many things. It was the fruit of their work, the chance to share their inner poetry and a perfect demonstration of the dynamics that are at work within the program at SIS. Congratulations to all those who participated and to Maryama Antoine and Anne Potonnier for launching the project. Long live the Wandering Quill!
Dernière modification le 08-08-09 par
