New Hyde Park Memorial High School’s underground poetry collective continues to thrive as one of its most creative initiatives, reflecting on the role poetry plays in students’ self-expression and creativity. Formed through the collaboration of current NHP Poet Laureate Angela Vlavianos, English department chairperson Dr. Otton, and English teacher Ms. Sansotta, the poetry collective holds workshops that introduce students to the value of poetry and publishes a literary volume based on the workshops. The collective was first initiated a couple of years ago after a group of students and Dr. Otton had an opportunity to hold a workshop with Kimiko Hahn, the current New York State Poet Laureate.
“The poetry collective is just an informal group of students who were interested and taken aback by poetry; it became a space to write and discuss poems while working towards an annual publication,” Dr. Otton said.
The purpose of this year’s collective is to extend beyond the traditional basis of writing a yearly volume; rather, it aims to highlight students’ self-expression and creativity across various contexts. The collective itself allows students to express emotions and feelings, alongside learning the basic principles of writing.
“This year, we have an overwhelming amount of interest with around fifteen or more students. I am very excited about the turnout we have this year, and I’m excited to see what we can accomplish together,” senior Angela Vlavianos said.
The overall theme of this year’s collective is time. The theme was chosen due to its relevance within society and the multitude of different perspectives it can be looked through when crafting poems. Specifically, the poems will focus on periods of time such as the past, present and future.
“I personally love the poetry collective. It’s a really free space to share my writing and develop my style as a poet. It’s refreshing because the whole thing is so low stakes and it’s all about creating poetry and having fun writing,” sophomore Alayna Vyas said.
When discussing the importance of poetry among students at New Hyde Park Memorial, many students had very similar opinions and beliefs regarding the role of poetry on young minds.
“I believe that poetry is important and all students should embrace it to express themselves,” sophomore Shriyan Suwal said.
“Before the cellphone ban, many students had lost the ability to express themselves, so poetry initiatives, in my opinion, are important within our New Hyde Park community,” sophomore Arman Paul said.
As the collective continues to develop its annual volume, Dr. Otton, Angela Vlavianos, and Ms. Sansotta encourage all students to join and participate regardless of their background. Through workshops, student engagement and collaboration, the underground poetry collective has become a space in which students can explore what poetry has to offer. It’s emphasis on self-expression and time encourages students to reflect and communicate by writing one poem at a time.
