Letter: Emboldened voices highlight Gainesville’s growing literary arts community
Letter to the editor
We all sat in a hushed silence, eyes on the person standing center stage, whose back is turned in reverence for his art. After collecting himself, the poet turns and faces the mic. There’s a weighted pause, then rhythmic, powerful words pour from his mouth. A story unravels, and with it, a performance steeped in passion and grit. I simply watch in a trance, with small tears rolling down my cheek. I have read and written poetry throughout my life, but I had never physically and emotionally felt the vibrations of poetic words emanate through me. It was akin to the goosebumps I get when listening to a live orchestra.
The Swamp-Berry Jam Poetry Slam, held at Vecinos Neighborhood Restaurant & Bar in downtown Gainesville, was a competitive spoken word event that featured poets from around the region and nation. The event was part of the 4th annual Bard and Broadside: North Central Florida Poetry Festival, which is a month-long celebration of poetry with various events throughout Gainesville. This year’s theme was “Poetica America 250,” which honored 250 years of American independence through poetry.
The festival kicked off at the beginning of April with a poetry open mic night at the University of Florida Harn Museum for their Museum Nights/Art After Dark. This was a collaboration with the weekly Poetry Jam open mic that usually occurs at the Civic Media Center on Thursday nights. As someone who frequently includes celestial themes in my writing, I was excited to attend “Poetry at the Planetarium: Astronomical Words,” which included a short film about the Universe and some cosmic hands-on poetry activities. I was grateful to attend the final event, which was a poetry workshop led by Dr. Sidney Wade, a creative writing professor at the University of Florida. Other events included poetry readings and a youth poetry and monologue competition, as well as a community panel discussion at The Lynx Books.
The poetry festival will mark its 5th year next April, but the nonprofit and person behind this festival are not new to the area. ARTSPEAKS was founded by Alachua County’s Poet Laureate E. Stanley Richardson, in 2012. His goal for the organization was to create a hub for literary artists and literary events in the Southeast. When Poet Laureate Richardson first got involved in the poetry community in Gainesville, he noticed different silos of poets and thought, “Wouldn’t it be great to have all these different voices under just one roof to celebrate poetry?”
Other events offered by ARTSPEAKS include “Bringing Poetry and People Together,” which features local voices sharing poetry, spoken-word, storytelling, and other forms of creative artistic expression. This year’s event will be held on Sunday, August 30, at the Historic Thomas Center. Another annual event is “Courageous Young Voices,” which provides a space specifically for young people. They are encouraged to be authentic, no matter how heavy the topic. There might be themes like bullying, gun violence, and sexual abuse. Kids have even come out to their parents in a poem.
I am beyond grateful for this poetry community, as the events I attended have opened up pieces of myself I thought were lost. After five years of radio silence, my creative spark is once again alive. In the weeks following the poetry slam, I wrote and cried and laughed and wrote some more. I finally feel like I’m able to express the profound emotions I experienced during a difficult time in my life. I found the words to carry me through, and now I am sharing my words of encouragement with others who struggle with mental health.
Without events like those offered by ARTSPEAKS, our community would be missing out on opportunities for expression and inspiration. How many others, as a result of these literary events, have found reassurance in the courageous words of a poet or felt empowered after sharing their own artistic expression with their peers? We need spaces like these to open up difficult conversations and provide a safe arena for coming into ourselves, going deep, and connecting with our place in this world.
I hope you get a chance to join this literary arts community. You never know what sort of people you will meet, and who knows? Maybe you will be inspired to reach down into yourself and unearth words you never knew lay in wait.
Kirstin Thompson
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