Anis Mojgani visits Wilson High School
After hosting the Verselandia! Slam Poetry Championship the night before, slam poet Anis Mojgani visited Wilson High School to talk with about fifty students who had read from his books and watched videos of his slam performances online. Mojgani began by performing his award-winning poem “Come Closer.” The students were enthralled by his performance, and [...]
Nikky Finney Visits Roosevelt High School
The morning after her phenomenal lecture at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Nikky Finney came with us to Roosevelt High School and visited with students who had read her work. Roosevelt’s librarian, Betsy Tighe, gave an enthusiastic introduction and then Finney held the students in rapt attention as she explained how she became a poet [...]
Sherman Alexie visits Franklin HS and NAYA
Before his PA&L lecture at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Sherman Alexie visited Franklin High School and the Native American Youth Family Center (NAYA). At both visits, Alexie kept his audience laughing throughout. When a student asked about his sense of humor, Alexie responded that humor is a response: one can either laugh or cry. [...]
Stephen Greenblatt visits Benson High School
When Stephen Greenblatt walked into the library of Benson High School, Elisa Wong’s senior AP English class fell into an expectant hush. The students had been studying Hamlet and read a chapter of Greenblatt’s book, Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare in advance, so they were prepared with questions for the Pulitzer Prize-winning [...]
Javier Hernandez visits Madison’s Hispanic Club
WITS writer-in-resident Javier Hernandez spoke with Madison High School’s Hispanic Club during one of their weekly lunch meetings. Hernandez is originally from Eugene, and he worked as a journalist for the New York Times after attending Harvard. About 25 students attended the meeting that week, and they had questions for Hernandez about his experiences applying [...]
Jeffrey Toobin visits Grant High School
On the afternoon before his lecture at the Schnitz, Jeffrey Toobin spent an hour answering questions from a very well-prepared group of students at Grant High School–specifically, the Constitution Team taught by Dave Lickey. It sounded a little like this: Student: What is the importance of respecting legal precedent? Toobin: That is a great question…One [...]
Chimamanda Adichie Visits With Students at Grant High School
“It’s important to know that all stories have been told, but you can bring something new to them. Inspiration comes from everything; it isn’t something magical. You sit in front of the computer and you hope the writing happens.” Chimamanda Adichie offered this straightforward truth to a group of over one hundred students and faculty [...]
Slam Champ Anis Mojgani visits Roosevelt Writing Center
The day after MCing Verselandia! Portland’s first city-wide poetry slam for high school students, World Poetry Slam champion Anis Mojgani visited the Roosevelt High School writing center and met with fifty Rough Riders. ”Do you ever run into people who don’t take art and poetry seriously as a job?” asked a student. ”All the time,” said [...]
Abraham Verghese Talks with Students from Jefferson High School
“Geography is destiny; Napoleon said that, ” Abraham Verghese recites to a group of Jefferson High School students. He proceeds to describe how this maxim had proved true in his own life. His parents, both Indian teachers living in the Southern state of Kerala, had met and married in Ethiopia, where they had been recruited [...]
Tom Brokaw Meets the Press
Tom Brokaw made time during a busy Portland visit to meet with students from Wilson High School at the new Literary Arts event space downtown. He told the student journalists they are coming of age at a critical time. While the future of print journalism is uncertain, Brokaw said he remains optimistic that “the culture [...]
