A Poem A Day » Alex Gilbert

Farewell, Poetry Month 2011

Alex Gilbert — Wed, 04 May 2011 14:30:06 +0000

Thank you for participating in A Poem A Day with Writers in the Schools (WITS). We hope that you have enjoyed reading these poems by WITS students during April, National Poetry Month. If you enjoyed this project, here are some options for staying in the WITS “loop” throughout the year:

Thank you for participating in A Poem a Day with the Writers in the Schools (WITS). We hope that you have enjoyed reading these poems by WITS students during National Poetry Month. If you enjoyed this project, here are some options for staying the the WITS “loop”:

Please leave comments on your favorite poems on the WITS blog. The students will really appreciate your positive feedback.

Add the WITS blog to your bookmarks or feed reader.

Send a kid to summer camp.

If you live anywhere else, look up a similar program in your area.

If you’d like to make a donation to keep the Writers in the Schools programs growing and reaching as many Houston-area youth as possible, please click here.

We would like to thank the Houston Arts Alliance, the City of Houston, the Houston Chronicle, the Houston Public Library, and the Texas Commission on the Arts for sponsoring A Poem A Day 2008.

Thank you for celebrating National Poetry Month with WITS. Stay tuned to this blog for more writing from WITS students, writers, and staff.Thank you for participating in A Poem a Day with the Writers in the Schools (WITS). We hope that you have enjoyed reading these poems by WITS students during National Poetry Month. If you enjoyed this project, here are some options for staying the the WITS “loop”

Please leave comments on your favorite poems on the WITS blog. The students will really appreciate your positive feedback.
Add the WITS blog to your bookmarks or feed reader.
Become a fan of WITS on facebook.
Send your child to our creative writing summer camp.
If you’d like to make a donation to keep the Writers in the Schools programs growing and reaching as many Houston-area youth as possible, please click here.

We would like to thank the Houston Arts Alliance, the City of Houston, the Houston Public Library, and the Texas Commission on the Arts, for sponsoring A Poem A Day 2011.

A very special thanks goes to the staff at KPFT 90.1 FM, Sharpstown High School Principal Robert Gasparello, his students, their teachers, and producer Susan Phillips for featuring the poems on the radio each weekday, a few of which you can hear by clicking the following links:

Dear Little Sister

Ode to Drizzling

What Words Can Be

The rockin’ readers were:

Jerrell Hill, 10th grade
Princillar Agyapong, 12th grade
Gloria Johnson, 12th grade
Kori Walker, 11th grade
Joseph Butler, 12th grade
Alyssa Arteaga, 12th grade
Jonas Aguero, 12th grade
Ana Sanchez, 12th grade
Aryani Peres, 11th grade
Hazel Kate Camat, 12th grade
Torrin Guillory, 9th grade
Jorge Aguero, 12th grade
Darnell Anderson, 11th grade
Jaron Barnes, 12th grade
Ronny Ellison, 11th grade
Demetrick Miller, 12th grade
Starlesha Basha, 11th grade
Concepcion Cisneros, 12th grade
Keidra Gartica, 12th grade
Kalari Faultry, 12th grade
Juana Rodriguez, 11th grade
Deondra Walters, 10th grade

Visit this blog year-round for more writing from WITS students, writers, and staff. Remember, every month is poetry month on the WITS blog. Get your daily poem and be reminded of the finer things in life.

Filed under: Houston, national poetry month, poetry, student, writers in the schools Tagged: Houston Arts Alliance, Houston Public Library, kpft, national poetry month, poetry, Sharpstown High School, texas commission on the arts

Where Are We Now: Marc McKee

Alex Gilbert — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:52:15 +0000

Former WITS writer, Marc McKee, will have a collection of poems titled, Fuse, published in May 2011 by Black Lawrence Press. Marc is no stranger to publication, however; his chapbook What Apocapypse, won the 2008 New Michigan Press/DIAGRAM Chapbook Competition. His work has also appeared in Boston Review, Conduit, Crazyhorse, Forklift Ohio, The Journal, LIT, and Pleiades, just to name a few.

Marc McKee is originally from Big Sandy, Texas, and earned his MFA at the University of Houston, after receiving his BS from Indiana University. These days he is working on his PhD at University of Missouri at Columbia where he lives with his wife, Camellia Cosgray.

Filed under: books, Houston, poetry, publishing, where are we now, writer, writers in the schools Tagged: marc mckee

Where Are We Now: Poet Jason Koo

Alex Gilbert — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 13:21:21 +0000

Jason Koo was a writer for WITS for several years beginning in 2000; he was a Senior Writer his last two years. He was recently awarded a 2009 Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and he also won the De Novo Prize for his collection, Man on Extremely Small Island which was published a few months ago. He currently lives in New York, where he teaches at NYU and Lehman College and serves as poetry editor of Low Rent.

When interviewed about his years with WITS, this is what Jason had to say:

It’s difficult to pick out one experience, but I think I most remember and appreciate the kindness, enthusiasm, and generosity of the people who worked in the WITS office, especially Long and Robin. They made it a great workplace and were so supportive. And, of course, the kids. In every class there were little geniuses. Teaching poetry the kids always stimulated my own imagination; they’d have an energy and imagination to their poems that I wanted in my own poems. Professionally, working for WITS taught me how to work collaboratively with other teachers, and how to maintain a high energy level in the classroom.

Jason will be reading in the Poison Pen Series at the Poison Girl Bar along with former WITS writer Taije Silverman and fiction writer Ed Porter on Thursday, March 25th. This event will be free, and the public is invited to attend.

Filed under: books, event, Houston, teaching, where are we now, writer, writers in the schools Tagged: jason koo

Where Are We Now: Stacy Parker Aab

Alex Gilbert — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:30:12 +0000

Former WITS writer Stacy Parker Aab has published a new book entitled, Government Girl. Stacy has had quite a career thus far with various government titles and stints across the globe. She also has worked with Writers in the Schools programs both in Houston and Detroit. The five years she spent in the White House as an aide are the basis for this fascinating insight into what it is like to be a young idealistic woman in the White House.

Stacy chronicled her time working for the Clinton administration with honesty and wit. Quite refreshingly, she doesn’t shy away from or downplay the more controversial events during those years at the White House. She talks openly about how she learned from what went on around her and how she achieved success for herself in what has traditionally been a “boy’s club.”

Although she is currently busy traveling and promoting her book, Stacy now calls New York City home. She also blogs for the Huffington Post and has worked on a project called McSweeney’s Voices from the Storm: The People of New Orleans on Hurricane Katrina and Its Aftermath. Stacy has been a major part of this effort document the stories and oral histories of the many people displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Posted in books, essay, event, self-portrait, where are we now, writer, writers in the schools Tagged: government girl, stacy parker aab

WITS Board President Publishes New Book

Alex Gilbert — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:30:09 +0000

Robin Davidson is a busy person. Not only is she a full time professor of English at University of Houston Downtown, she’s also the president of the board of directors at Writers in the Schools. And if that wasn’t enough, she just had her first book published by Northwestern University Press.

The book, The New Century: Poems by Ewa Lipska, is a collection of poems by a post-World War II era poet from Poland. Ewa Lipska is regarded as one of the most important poets of her day but until now her work has not been translated widely. The New Century is the first collection of Lipska’s poems to appear in English. Robin Davidson co-translated the poems with Ewa Elzbieta Nowakowska and authored the foreword.

Posted in books, education, poetry, publishing, where are we now, writers in the schools Tagged: Ewa Elzbieta Nowakowska, Ewa Lipska, northwestern university press, Poems by Ewa Lipska, poetry, poetry collection, poetry translation, polish poetry, Robin Davidson, The New Century, University of Houston Downtown, world war II era poetry, writers in the schools