Instructions for living a life.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
~ Mary Oliver
The high school Creative Writing Reading will be held on Friday, February 22 at 7:00pm in the Assembly Room at the upper campus. What follows is a preview of the event from English and Creative Writing teacher Haley Campbell.
Last month, the beloved poet Mary Oliver, passed away. Most at home wandering the woods of her home in Provincetown with a notebook, Oliver devoted her life to exploring rapturous existential questions funneled through metaphors of the natural world. She captured the subtleties and depths of the human experience with inspiring simplicity. Winner of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, Oliver is a writer whose work is emblematic of all that is possible through storytelling and through harnessing the minutiae and power of language. Her passing inspired me to return to so many of her poems that I have loved for years and to share her art and perspective with my students.
This year in Creative Writing students have been exploring various prompts that bring us closer to emotion, yearning, and the detail-oriented fascination of our characters and ourselves. This semester we are starting to explore story development through establishing a sense of place, exploring scene essentials, and understanding overall structure of a narrative plot.
At the high school Creative Writing Reading this year, we will hear reflections, lamentations, and exaltations. We will hear developing stories with complexly drawn characters, and we will hear musing poetry lending a glimpse into the writer’s secret heart. Most importantly we will experience the inspiration of art created in community—the local community of our school and the global community forged by interacting with art that challenges us to shine the light into our depths with curiosity, attention, and perhaps even astonishment.
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Nestled among the redwoods on 355 acres, Mount Madonna School (MMS) is a community of learners dedicated to creative, intellectual, and ethical growth. MMS supports its students in becoming caring, self-aware, discerning and articulate individuals; and believe a fulfilling life includes personal accomplishments, meaningful relationships and service to society. The CAIS and WASC accredited program emphasizes academic excellence, creative self-expression and positive character development. Located on Summit Road between Gilroy and Watsonville. Founded in 1979.