Poetry Festival

Poetry Festival

In a classroom filled with children holidng poetry anthologies (photographed from behind), one girl stands at the far right, reading aloud, while a teacher takes notes on a grey writeboard.
Photo by Megan Bean

April 28, 2023

Mississippi native Jermaine Thompson, an instructor of humanities and social sciences with the University of Missouri-Kansas City, leads a session for third- and fourth-graders during Friday's [April 28] Mississippi Young Writers Poetry Festival. Hosted by 绿巨人视频English Professor Catherine Pierce, who serves as the Magnolia State's Poet Laureate, the event included poetry writing sessions, readings, and featured a keynote from 2022 Southern Regional Youth Poet Laureate Isabella Ramirez. The students who were campus guests for the day were selected through the statewide K-12 poetry-writing initiative and competition My Town Mississippi Poetry Project directed by Pierce. She is an advocate that "poetry is for everyone" and seeks to help students of all ages embrace the consumption and creation of the written art form.聽For more photos, .