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CHARLES PRITCHARD
Staff Writer
The National Beat Poetry Festival at Fredonia kicked off this past weekend; a number of poets from out-of-state came, shared their work and interacted with the young poets on campus.
The Festival, which, as one of the poets pointed out, is actually an international event. People share their poetry and a little slice of themselves along the way.
The event started at 5 p.m. last Friday night. While many students were out enjoying the beginning of their weekend, a number came to the festival for many different reasons.
More than a handful of students showed up for extra credit for one class or another, some showed up from the spur-of-the-moment decision, and others showed up with the intention of sharing their work with the poets.
The first poet of the night was Viviana Grell, a poet not listed on the fliers posted around campus, but a treat nonetheless.
Professor Vincent Quatroche, the host of the event, listed off her accomplishments and managed to turn a few heads when he said she has “been known to call herself ‘the bitch without an itch.’”
Even more people were caught off guard when Grell proceeded to play “I’m Sexy and I Know It” by Right Said Fred and yell to the crowd to get up and dance.
This is definitely not what comes to mind when people think of a beat poetry festival.
From there Grell set the mood for the night with a number of poems that left people blushing out of embarrassment due to the subject matter.
Huffing and out of breath from running around McEwen 209, Grell recited poems involving sex and love.
Nobody knew what to expect from then on out. One after another, each of the beat poets came up; no two were alike. The subject matter they brought up was always different and exciting.
Drinking, high school bullying, depression, what life throws at you, political rallying against Vietnam, sexuality and any number of topics that you could think of were featured in the poems.
As the night wore on and few poets were left to be featured, Quatroche called for a quick break to “stretch your legs and get a drink if you need it.”
It’s a stark contrast between what they were doing in McEwen 209 not five minutes before and where they were now. It’s almost hard to believe the people reciting poems with such intensity and emotion and were no different than the audience they just performed for — or any other student, like the ones who were about to get on the open microphone.
Kanard Lewis, sophomore audio production major, a motivational speaker with his own YouTube channel, was one of the first students who came onstage. He recited without a script.
“I use my voice and my experience — with being bullied, being a minority, growing up in the Bronx, getting my heart broken — to inspire people to be more confident, to keep pushing forward,” he said when asked about his interest in poetry.
Kyle Licht followed after with a poem about the tragedy in Charleston, in which nine people were killed solely based on their race.
“I actually came for extra credit,” Licht said with a laugh and shrug. “I like poetry too, so I decided ‘Why not?’ and decided to speak.”
The final student speaking on Friday was Skye Mitchelle. Her piece could have been torn right out of Grell’s own notebook.
Mitchelle’s poem was full of sexual energy, leaving more than a few people red in the face. But at the end it received a thunderous applause from Grell herself and more than a few cheers from others.
“It [The National Beat Poetry Festival] was very spur-of-the-moment,” Mitchelle admitted with a laugh. “I saw the poster and went ‘Oooh, we can say our own poems’ and I had something I wrote before.”
With the students done showing their stuff and the last poets finishing their own works, the event came to a close, leaving listeners to contemplate the evening.