This April, HHS sparked a creative spree,

with its fourth annual Poetry Palooza,

a lively jubilee.

A month-long event to make the rainy season bright,

and encourage students’ creativity

to soar into flight.

Birmingham’s first poet laureate, Salaam Green, highlighted the month when she performed and interacted with students April 24. Other activities of this year’s Poetry Palooza included a door-decorating contest, blackout poetry and paint chip poetry workshops. Students also submitted original poems for judging, with entries to be published in the school’s literary magazine “The Menagerie”. 

Amy Marchino, who teaches creative writing and coordinates Poetry Palooza, said poetry can be intimidating. 

“We want to provide an outlet for creativity, especially for students who might not have time to take creative writing classes,” she said.

Dutcha Lawson, high school librarian and one of Poetry Palooza coordinators, echoed Machino’s thoughts and said the month is all about casting poetry in a fun light to make it more accessible to more students.

The program offered various interactive poetry experiences, such as creating poems on paint chips inspired by color names or crafting new poems by selectively blacking out text from existing pages, even an established poet performed for students and faculty.  

During her visit to HHS, Green summarized her mission to democratize poetry and inspire creativity among young minds with “just go for it.”

She said she hopes young people can “find inspiration in their own life and their own experiences.” 

As a poet laureate, Green travels all over to compose and perform poems to people in order to facilitate change within the community. She demonstrates the power of poems in each performance and aspires that everyone uses it to their advantage. 

“I believe everyone should have access to poetry,” Green explained. “I want people to know they can be their own poets and heal their lives through the power of words.”

Now an established tradition, the Poetry Palooza has grown from an experimental program in 2022 to an anticipated annual event that supports the school’s English curriculum and encourages student creativity.