Manifesting the muse in a myriad of subjects, moods and styles, the 11th Annual Poet's Night Out celebrated the works of 25 poets.
Held Sunday evening at the City Opera House, the event drew 250 attendees who provided the creative space for the readings by poets who spanned the range of experience and inspiration. The poems, culled from 200 submissions from northern Michigan writers, covered topics ranging from love, hate and murder to sprawl, curving country roads and the Mackinac Bridge.
"This is one of the most fun things I do,” said Chris Bazzett, one of two judges for the event who also reads pieces every year. "To me, this is just the epitome of what the arts should be, funded by the library and self funded: poetry by the people, of the people and for the people.”
Prizes were given in a range of categories with recipients receiving a nominal award; all accepted poems were also included in a published chapbook. The coveted Audience Prize this year went to Samantha Fisher while Anne Bardons-McClellan won the Horizon Books Prize.
Poet's Night Out always encourages student poets, judging their submissions with the adult ones. This year three students were selected to read their works: Leah Jodoin, an eighth grader at Traverse City East Junior High, Mack Sovereign, a ninth grader at Traverse City East Junior High, and Kaitlin Matesich, a sophomore at Bear Lake High School. Sovereign did not attend the event but the two girls each gave their first public reading.
Jodoin, a prolific writer who writes from the hip, pours out her works in minutes and does not edit them. Writing poetry since the fourth grade and more seriously since the sixth, she finds the medium an excellent way to express strong emotions.
"I usually write poetry when I'm feeling sad or mad or angry,” she noted.
Matesich is a more deliberate author and does modify her work but usually follows an idea wherever it takes her.
"For the most part, I get a line in my head and build from there,” she said.
Both girls attended a workshop Sunday afternoon along with 17 other poets from Poets' Night Out. The four-hour class allowed each poet to read their work and listen to input from the other poets as well as the two judges: Bazzett and Tina Tank.
"It was a really great sounding board, really interesting to see stylistically what people have to say about things,” said Matesich, who appreciated the format that varied from her take on typical school assignments, which are "Either do whatever you want or these are the rules.”
The normally non-editing Jodoin relished the constructive give and take of the session.
"I love editing [other poems] and getting other people's suggestions,” she said.
Although his poem "Magnificent Michigan” had already garnered the attention of and a letter from Governor Jennifer Granholm, James Paulin is relatively new to poetry. A retired design sculptor from General Motors, Paulin had been writing inspirational essays for several years. Last spring, he branched out into poetry and began penning personal verses for family members.
His paean to the state originally highlighted northern Michigan, an area he loves. When his brother, Mike, a radio announcer for WTCM, said he wanted to present the piece to the Governor, James stayed up for three nights expanding the focus to include the whole state. The poem's next stop was at Poets' Night Out, where James' son, Erin, read the piece for him Sunday evening.
"Many of my poems come quickly to me but that one I had to belabor,” recalled Paulin, who splits his time between Traverse City and Livonia. "It's one of those opportunities in life, seize the moment, and I feel very fortunate.”
For more information on Poets' Night out, see their web site at www.poetsnightout.org.