Teen Voices poetry reading

Last Friday I attended a poetry reading event in support of Teen Voices magazine, an alternative magazine for teen girls (http://www.teenvoices.com/). I was an intern at this organization back in college and then it was my first job after graduating, but I haven’t been able to participate in their events as much as I would have liked since then. So I went to the poetry reading on Friday night, not entirely sure what to expect.

It was intense. Teenage girls from the afterschool program got up on the little stage in front of a packed audience (the place was overflowing) and read about everything: their hopes, their fears, what they would do if they were President, how they are perceived by others as opposed to who they really are inside, and the importance of having their own voices heard. Their voices were raw and honest in a way that would make many an adult cringe: sharing their feelings about absent parents and the pain of their past in language that was direct, unflinching, and often jaw-droppingly-stunning. I stood in the back, amazed at the sheer bravery of these young women.

And that wasn’t the only thing that struck me. During each reading, especially if the reader paused or was having difficulty with her material, the girls in the audience would call out her name and words of encouragement. And the applause after each performance was simply deafening—after one seemingly-quiet girl read her powerful poem, the audience literally jumped out of their seats, screaming. The unabashed support that these girls showed each other was really moving.

I write fiction for a teen audience, so it was really illuminating to hear teenagers talk about themselves in their own words. For me, writing has always been about revealing myself through the story and voice of someone not-entirely-me, always obscured behind the veil of fiction. I'm thankful that there are so many avenues for self-expression, for all of us.