FRESNO (KMJ) — The winner of what’s being called a ‘Poetry Slam’ has been crowned at Fresno’s Hoover High School.
11th grade students have been voicing their experiences and sharing them with their peers through poetry.
English Teacher Kristen Norton says the student’s inspiration comes from things that are personal to them and have troubled them in the past.
“Issues like bullying, like sexual orientation issues, that come up surrounding family. So there’s a wide range of issues that students are dealing with that they really need a forum to express how they’re feeling and dealing with these issues.
“This poetry slam has given them an opportunity to do that.”
The poems’ authors have been competing within their class, and those contestants have been whittled down to two for the big final which took place at noon on Friday.
The judges included poet laureate of Fresno Lee Herrick, Professor of Poetry at Fresno State, and one of the founders of Inner Ear Poetry Slam Bryan Medina.
