Individuals celebrated National Women’s Month with poetry this past Sunday at The Baton Rouge Gallery of Contemporary Art.
This was the 10th year the Gallery hosted the annual Women’s History Month Celebration and Poetry Reading, according to Beth Foos, the event’s coordinator.
Women were required to bring one original poem about women or the history of women, she said. Each year, the poems are different.
“There is always a broad mix each year,” Foos said. “There have been mother-daughter poems, love poems, crazy girl poems. It’s a nice glimpse into the universal experience of woman.”
Les Ann Kirkland, who has attended the poetry reading for seven years, said the poems are as diverse as the audience.
“There will be a lady from Scotland reading, and there will be an LSU student,” she said. “Poems are sometimes about the beauty of a flower or political injustices.”
This year, the poems’ themes varied from more serious issues, such as the relationship between a mother and daughter, to more humorous subjects.
“My poems are self-revelatory,” Kirkland said. “But some are funny, like the one about going to Catholic school.”
Ava Haymon, whose poetry has been published by LSU Press, said she finds inspiration for her writing in many different ways.
“I like to write about all kinds of things,” she said. “One collection of mine is about mountain climbing, and the other is about raising children and trying to stay married.”
Haymon read four poems, one of which was about how women were once forbidden to have an opinion.
“I get a buzz every time I read it,” she said. “The poem is dedicated to women who are 10, 15, 20 years older than me who were not allowed to speak this way.”
Foos, who also read at the event, said it is sometimes hard to keep audiences interested with poetry.
“Poetry is boring,” she said. “So my goal is to keep the audience entertained as much as humanly possible.”
Foos said another difficult aspect of poetry is being able to fully express oneself.
“As people get older, they are taught to keep their feelings to themselves,” she said. “This is why I like to teach children poetry because they are so wide-open. When you are nine, it doesn’t matter if you are honest. [Children] aren’t scared to say how they feel.”
Kirkland said that each time she writes a poem, she learns something new about herself.
“Writing is something you can’t deny,” she said. “Like an artist who has to do a picture, a writer has to write something. It is very cathartic.”
Haymon said this event has launched many poets.
“It is a very accepting atmosphere,” she said. “We are not critical. This is a good place for people to get started.”
Haymon, who has privately taught several of the readers, said one of the most moving things is to hear somebody read his or her first poem.
Foos said although this year’s audience did not compare to last year’s 150-person crowd, it was still successful.
“There was still a nice variety,” she said. “It was like a sampler platter.”
—-Contact Drew Belle Zerby at [email protected]