April 4, 2017. Story and Photos by Hilary Broman
Senior Staff Reporter
To wrap up the Around the World in 30 Days event Montoya Campus held an international poetry and literature reading event where students volunteered to read poems in different languages or a piece that they had written themselves.
The event took place on Thursday, March 30th and it was hosted by Jean Silesky, Spanish instructor, and Maria Deblassie, English instructor and Montoya Campus writing group facilitator.
CNM tutor and former slam poet, Emily Bjustrom, opened by performing three of her original pieces.
Greg Cappetto, Montoya tutoring center manager, said that he enjoyed watching Bjustrom perform at a previous event so he invited her to read at this one.
“I hope she continues to write and affect the community like she affected me,” he said.
Madeleine Allerheiligen, Psychology major and Montoya writing group member, read a poem by Charles Baudelaire titled Eiel Brouillé in French.
She chose to read this poem because she liked the imagery of the spring weather and how it can be cruel, soft and sweet, she said.
She also loved the rhythm of the poem, she said, a lot of poems tend to lose the rhythm when they are translated and this one didn’t.
Many students who read were reading their work out loud for the first time including Rachel LaPore.
LaPore had been writing since she was seven years old but never felt encouraged to cultivate her creative talents, she said.
“I was a real estate developer and I never knew other writers or literary people,” she said. “Writing was like a secret life.”
The piece she decided to share was about identity and the struggle to find the true essence of self, she said.
“I was nervous about sharing this piece because it has a personal meaning and I was concerned that no one would like it,” she said.
Following LaPore, many students took to the podium to share pieces of writing that they had been working on or pieces of literature that stood out to them.
To close the event instructor, Maria Deblassie, shared an essay from her personal blog about finding the everyday joys in life.