On November 19, 2024 the Fort Smith Public Library helped host the annual International Poetry Night. It was a wonderful cultural even put together by Sigma Tau Delta, the Applause international literary journal, and the Azaharaz literary journal. Together they collaborated to bring together poets to read poems of all different languages and backstories. The poetic language included Spanish, German, Egyptian, English, and Chinese. All the poets read the poems in the original language they were written in and the the English translation.
The event opened up with a speech by the head host, Noah Schmidt. Noah Schmidt is in charge of anything in the school that has to do with international human relations. He gave a quick overview on what the night was about and also more events happening in the coming days to help celebrate International Education Week. He introduced the head of each organization including, I as Vice President for Sigma Tau Delta, Dr. Zack Medlin for Applause, and Dr. Lynda McClellan for Azahares.
I opened the night representing Sigma Tau Delta by explaining what we are and what we do. I shared our mission statement and shared some events we do such as our ever popular ugly sweater and uglier poetry night. I then opened up the poem reading with a poem named "What is Poetry" by William Blake. It was a short poem that summed up exactly what it sounds like, what poetry is all about. Unfortunately, I was the only one there to represent so we quickly moved on to Applause.
As said before, Dr. Zack Medlin represented Applause by reading a couple of poems by Osip Mandelstam. Dr. Medline also gave the historical background to both the poem and the poet. It was definitely a captivating story about a man that spoke out against a tyrant in front of who he thought was a friend and instead it led to his death. Dr. Medlin's poem was quickly followed by Dr. Marian Azab who read poems by Salah Jahin. She also read the background of the poet and what he was famous for. Dr. Azab was followed by Dr. Lee who read a poem by Chinese poet Li Bai. It was titled "Farewell to a Friend" and left the audience entranced. Dr. Lee did a wonderful job injecting emotion into the poem as she read it in both Chinese and English. Like all the others she also gave the history about the poet and when the poem came out. Last to be in the Applause section was Dr. Nic Long reading a poem titled, "I Loved You" by Alexander Pushkin. This was written by a Russian poet about his lover that he lost.
Next were the representatives of the Azahares literary journal. The two representatives were mother and son, Dr. Lynda McClellan and Evan McClellan. Dr. McClellan did a poem that was based on a story of a pirate that kept the audience captivated. It was long but by what I saw, the audience never lost interest. She was enthusiastic and put all her energy into what she was reading. It was like we were living the story. Evan McClellan read a poem that he wrote himself that was also in Spanish that was based off of a myth. Before reading he gave a brief overview of the myth so that the audience could follow along, which was very much appreciated. Evan McClellan was also very animated in his reading and made everyone interested in his twist on the myth. Afterward he gave a quick overview on the literature center where there are several different classes both native English speakers can take and non-English speakers can take to get better at English, or just learn another language.
After, there was a game that the audience was encouraged to participate in. They were put into groups of three or four (five was also ok). Then they were given around five or six fortune cookies. Out of the fortune cookies they were expected to make a poem. They were allowed to cut out some words or use words repeatedly. There were many wonderful poems made by all the groups and everyone seemed to have the time of their lives. My group went for the easiest choice and just matched up every fortune that seemed relevant to each other and didn't cut anything. In the end, it actually turned out pretty good.
Finally, there was a final call for any people in the audience that didn't sign up to read originally to come up and read something themselves. There actually ended up being quite a lot. There were those with original poems and those that just read their favorite poems. Everyone was very supportive for those that both signed up and those that went last minute. Noah Schmidt closed the night by giving one more reminder about all the other events that are happening for the rest of the week. These events include, K-Pop Dance Workshop, VSA Multicultural Potluck, and UAFS Culture Fest.
Overall, the International Poetry Night was a success for everyone that presented. There were new poets discovered and new friends met. Not only did the audience hear new poetry, but they got to learn the rich cultures' history as well. The snack table also made a good addition.
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