Log In


Reset Password
News Education Local News Nation & World New Mexico

Poetry slam draws 20 high school entries

Animas High School junior takes first place
Amy Leonard recites one of her poems Wednesday night. Leonard was in the top 10.

Poets and aspiring poets from Durango and Animas high schools recited or read their best lines Wednesday at the annual poetry slam held by Durango High School.

The slam caught the tail end of National Poetry Month, established in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets.

Judging the efforts were retired DHS English teacher Barbara McLachlan, novelist Scott Graham, Fort Lewis College students Fidel Frank and Martha Sorrells, and Kevin Johnson, an employee at Maria’s Bookshop.

The format of the slam requires that each contestant have three pieces. After each contestant reads, the field is cut to 10 for another round, then the last two standing duel one more time.

First place went to Samantha Duncan, a junior at AHS. Avery Lazare, a sophomore at DHS, finished runner-up.

The rest of the top 10, in no particular order, were Dylan Williamson and Mikayla Wright, both from AHS; and Olivia Andrew, Chamisa Edd, Amy Leonard, Sophie Meiers, Julia Petty and Haley Wilhelmsen from DHS.

In contrast to some of her competitors who delved into poetry a few weeks ago expressly to compete in the slam, Leonard is a seasoned poet. She began writing poetry at age 6 in her native Maryland.

A tutor asked her to describe what she saw in a painting and read her work in a contest. The result was a meeting with the painter at a later date. At age 10, Leonard won a volume of Emily Dickinson’s work when she took first place in a contest sponsored by the Young Poets Society.

Leonard’s opening poem Wednesday night was The Hero Who Still Stands, a tribute to Chris Kyle, a Navy SEAL sniper, who was killed by a military veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at a firing range in Texas.

The slam is not taken lightly. Teachers and published poets work with students during the lunch hour for weeks leading up to the big night to polish their presentation. This year, advice came from Kevinanne Curmano, an English teacher at DHS, and Esther Belin, whose collection of poems, From the Belly of My Beauty, won the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation.

Duncan and Lazare received a journal in which to write, a book about writing, a book of poems by FLC professor of English Pamela Uschuk and a gift from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

daler@durangoherald.com



Reader Comments