The Poets
Posted by Garrett Carey
Class of 2012
Cortney Charleston / “Pastor”
Interests: Lupe Fiasco’s “And He Gets the Girl,” skyscrapers, Mac & Cheese, Michael Jordan’s Flu Game, music I was possibly conceived to, the humming of hair clippers, bus boycotts, over-sized hearts, birds tweeting to moonlight, grade-school martyrs
Favorite Excelano poem: “To Be” by Warren C. Longmire
Favorite non-Excelano poem: “She Walks In Beauty” by Lord Byron
Why do you write? To scribble over all the wrong.
Lauren Yates / “Maverick”
Interests: Record stores, schizophrenia, green tea, neo-noir, dark comedy, camp/kitsch, TV shows on DVD, lostateminor.com, Myers-Briggs (INFJ all day), poetic justice, misanthropic filmmakers who worship Pulp Fiction.
Favorite Excelano poem: “The Grandeur That Was Rome” by Alysia Harris
Favorite non-Excelano poem: “After the Bachelor Party” by Derrick C. Brown
Why do you write? It lets me lie. Words don’t have to be true to be real.
Jillian Blackwell / TBD
Interests: crossword puzzles, rollerskating, corners of rooms, Rothko.
Favorite Excelano poem: “Carbon Copy” by Joshua Bennett
Favorite non-Excelano poem: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot
Why do you write? It’s a challenge and it’s a solace.
Marion Smallwood / “Poppyseed”
Interests: Music, sorbet, things I can make fun of, facebook stalking, harry potter, scrapbooking, thrift store shopping, illegal downloading, movies, pretending
Favorite Excelano poem: “Gambling Man” by Chloe Wayne
Favorite non-Excelano poem: “The Moon Rises” by Federico Garcia Lorca
Why do you write? Because I like to pretend.
Class of 2013
Sarah Richter / “Slick”
Interests: art, books, art books
Favorite Excelano poem: “Anarchist’s Cookbook” by Garrett Carey
Favorite non-Excelano poem: “Milos” by Anis Mojgani
Why do you write? Because I have a terrible memory.
Simone Stolzoff / “Judeo-Thug”
Interests: homemade chocolate chip cookies, jacksonpollock.org, italian things, the roots, matt damon movies, good company, pick up sports, laughing
Favorite Excelano poem: “Clowns” by Josh
Favorite non-Excelano poem: Poema 15 by Pablo Neruda
Why do you write? Because it forces me to use my senses.
Richard Thomson / “Young Richard”
Interests: eye colors, music, Harry Potter, New England, petrichor, postcolonial literature, gay angels, Norse mythology, hide-and-seek
Favorite Excelano poem: “Black Tulips” by Aysha El-Shamayleh
Favorite non-Excelano poem: “Sawdust & Diamonds” by Joanna Newsom
Why do you write? It gives me the right to be selfish
Class of 2014
Tiffany Kang / “Grandbaby”
Interests: culture shock, first times, peanut butter cookies, samurai sudoku, worms/spiders, eye contact, cursive, crunchy leaves, getting lost intentionally, bear hugs, all-nighters, getting voicemail, second chances, secrets, power outages, singing
Favorite Excelano poem: “Units of Distance” by Marion Smallwood
Favorite non-Excelano poem: “He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven” by William Butler Yeats
Why do you write? because it helps me figure myself out.
Alice Liu / “All The Jawns”
Interests: badminton, pandas, international relations, dance, singing, tea
Favorite Excelano poem: “Joy” by Alysia Harris
Favorite non-Excelano poem: “Paperdolls” by Sierra Demulder
Why do you write? because it’s empowering and helps me piece my life together.
Seth Simons / Sip
Interests: birds, watching birds, thinking about birds, using bird imagery in things I write
Favorite Excelano poem: “The Anatomy of Forgetting” by Sruthi Sadhujan
Favorite non-Excelano poem: “Your Face Will Stick” by Kay Ryan / “Mockingbird” by Rives
Why do you write? Either to clarify what I think or to complicate what I think… depends how awake I am.
Hannah Van Sciver / “Van Jawn”
Interests: Shakespeare, the color green, walking, skipping, drumming, eating ice cream when it’s cold outside, listening to show tunes while grocery shopping, drinking coffee, making snow angels, photography, traveling, musicmusicmusic, smiling, and waiting for Godot.
Favorite Excelano poem: “Tamara’s Opus” by Joshua Bennett
Favorite non-Excelano poem: “What if a much of a which of a wind” by e.e. cummings
Why do you write? I write because it’s automatic. It clarifies. When I was young, I was taught to “use my words.”
Class of 2015
Ivy Sole / “That Kid”
Interests: The Source, urban art, hip-hop, thrifting, college boys with and without beards, achilles heels, porcupines, mythology, religion, sunlight, and socks.
Favorite Excelano poem: “Petrichor” by Lauren Yates / “Death Poem” by Alysia Harris
Favorite non-Excelano poem: “Fishing on The Susquehanna in July” by Billy Collins
Why do you write? Because I can’t make “Better Than Sex Cake.” Yet.
Victoria Ford / TBD
Interests: cooking, eating, being close to barbecue. Attending art shows. Learning from small children. Practicing drawing on cardboard cut outs.
Favorite Excelano poem: TBD
Favorite non-Excelano poem: “Winter Stars” by Larry Levis
Why do you write? Writing is a healing process. One in which I am constantly discovering who I am in relationship with the world around me.
Alumni
Alysia Harris Posts
Amma Asare Posts
Aysha El-Shamayleh Posts
Ben Alisuag Posts
Carlos Gomez Posts
Caroline Rothstein Posts
Chloe Wayne Posts
David Warner Posts
Deepak Sambhara Posts
Garrett Carey Posts
Ibraheem Basir Posts
Ibrahim Jaaber Posts
Ilana Millner Posts
Joshua Bennett Posts
Justin Ching Posts
Justin Reilly Posts
Lindsey Rosin Posts
Melissa Pavri Posts
Mohammed Sow Posts
Noelle Bond Posts
Obinna Obilo Posts
Pablo Sierra Posts
Sabrina Austin-Edouard Posts
Sruthi Sadhujan Posts
Stephen Danley Posts
Tracey Gilbert Posts
Warren Longmire Posts
4 Responses to “The Poets”
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Ittai Wong Says:
January 23rd, 2010 at 2:10 amClass of 2014
Ittai Wong / “Cut Your Hair Already” -
Briana Silfies Says:
November 19th, 2010 at 1:45 amFreakin nice blog.
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Drew Ikard Says:
February 20th, 2011 at 11:37 amYou can certainly see your expertise in the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who aren’t afraid to say how they believe. Always go after your heart.
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Marlon Says:
February 25th, 2011 at 8:31 pmHey, I go to Ryerson University in Toronto. I’m sincerely interested in poetry and the EP event, so I was wondering if you guys accommodate for any from out of state? If so how would I or a number of people go about attending?
