Poetry Can Bring Together The Community, Says Uni High School Student
Outside The Red Herring in Urbana where Anna Troutt's poetry open mic and interactive poetry instillation will be. Daniel Baker - Illinois Public Media
Anna Troutt says she loves poetry—but unlike visual art, she says it is hard to find and even harder to consume. However, the University Laboratory High School Student says she thinks she can bring together the community through poetry.
She says she has been going to Boneyard Arts Festival her entire life, which is why she jumped at the chance to host a poetry open mic with her friend Samantha in conjunction with the festival. She says this is a chance for people to really experience spoken word, slam poetry and other forms of the medium.
“Poetry and art should be accessible to everyone, no matter who you are," said Troutt.
A goal of the festival is to foster the cultural and societal growth of people in the community. Troutt says her poetry open mic strives to meet that goal by featuring an interactive poetry instillation.
“We’re asking everyone to add a word to a community poem," said Troutt. She’s bringing a big chalkboard for people to write on. Each person will add to the last person's thought. By the end, the community will collaboratively write a story. She says she hopes this will bring everyone together as one voice.
The poetry open mic and interactive poetry installation will be at the Red Herring on Friday from 7 to 8 p.m. The Boneyard Arts Festival brings together local artists and performers from across Champaign County for a four-day festival. The festival starts Thursday April 12 and goes until Sunday April 15.