Student Spotlight: Denny Harrington

Senior Denny Harrington blew MHS away this year by winning the local and regional Poetry Out Loud competitions as well as placing at the state level. His love for the art of language runs deep: Denny is the founder of MHS’s poetry club and an avid reader and writer of poetry as well. MDO sat down with Denny to learn more about his passion.

MDO: Why start poetry club?

DH: In the beginning of the year, I started toying around with the idea of starting my own club. I had a couple ideas in mind (not worth mentioning) but I realized that I had a passion that didn’t really have a proper outlet where you could practice, enjoy, and learn poetry. The club also provided me with some practice in teaching, which is a career path that I have been set on for a while now. I’ve always loved teaching, even the littlest things, so getting to share my knowledge about an art form that I’ve loved all my life was an opportunity I could not refuse. Once my mind was made up, I contacted the administration in order to fulfill the necessary requirements to start the club, and here we are.

MDO: What are meetings like?

DH: Meetings are held every Thursday in A-2 or E-42 at lunch, and every week is different. Usually we start with a reading or two to warm up. Then we move into the main activity, which could be an in-depth analysis, a group activity, or a workshop session where members can work individually or in groups to write their own pieces, with my input here and there. Other times, we have interactive activities like guessing games or whatever I come up with. Workshops are some of my favorite days, mainly because I love reading my members works. I’m always impressed with how skillful they are and how each one of them already has a unique poetic voice. Very cool. Recently, I’ve been having members do readings in front of the club, so that they experience what it’s like: it’s not as daunting as it seems, it’s actually quite fun and exciting. At the end of the meeting, I usually do one more reading, and then they are good to go. Sometimes, I assign a short assignment for the next meeting (not homework, usually just a request to check out an author or a poem). Hope I see some of you at the next meeting!

MDO: What are the goals of the club?

DH: As you can see from our Facebook page (MHS Poetry Club), our mission is to better understand the world of poetry through reading, analysis, and writing. Also, we strive to find our poetic voices, allowing us to delve into the world of writing on our own terms (literally). By the end of the year, I would like every member to be capable of analyzing and understanding nearly any poem, to use that knowledge to perform a successful reading or recitation, and be able to take an idea for a poem and sculpt it into a complete work they are happy with by using the techniques that we discussed throughout.

MDO: What’s your poem-writing process like?

DH: This is the question I was most excited to answer! I always have great fun writing poems, and it usually starts with a line or a title. These initial ideas drive the creation of the poem. As any artist will say, the actual process is hard to explain. (I speak in more detail about this in my poem Art & Artists, which is up on the MHS Poetry Club Facebook page). Sometimes it feels like the universe is writing the poem, and I am just putting it on the page. Other times, I go off. I just can’t stop, I have so much to say about this particular topic or idea that I just run with it. Furthermore, I’d like to mention that it’s as much fun to be an artist as it is to watch one: everybody goes about it differently, and personally, sometimes I struggle to find just the right… you know, words? So at those times, it looks like I am fighting, but in reality it’s a love/hate relationship. One time I literally kicked myself because I used the exact same line in two different poems; needless to say, that won’t happen again (unless it’s intentional). As I am writing, I put myself in the mindset that I am trying to illicit. This helps to better establish the tone. Every once in a while, a line comes straight out of left field. No idea where it comes from, but I can’t help but put it in. This leads to tangential ideas, which are far from disallowed in poetry. They are literally everywhere.

Once I have the bulk of it on the page, I do a proofread, which usually results in “striking”, or the removal/replacement of repeated or unnecessary words. After this, I do several readings out loud. This allows me to hear the sound more completely, and this usually leads to some minor changes. Once I am comfortable with how it looks, I leave it alone for a couple days. Sometimes even a week or more. Then, after my time away, I return to the poem and look at it with fresh eyes: as if I have never seen the poem before. This lets me see how clear the subject, perspective, and overall meaning are. Then, I reread the poem as the author, cross-referencing it with the rest of my works to make sure this poem is unique in as many aspects as possible. Depending whether or not these tests were successful, I am basically done with the draft. I then move on to showing the poem to others, either publicly at a Glyphs Coffeehouse or the like, or just showing it to friends and teachers. This is my peer revision. One of my favorite venues for this type of revision is none other than Poetry Club! Being that it is a room full of talented poetry lovers, I get some great feedback there. I’ve actually read a great deal of my own poems at meetings, mainly for this reason. Then, depending whether or not I agree with the suggestions made, I make changes. These changes are often minute, and can even be as small as punctuation or spacing, or slightly more substantial like adding a line for clarification where needed (although I avoid this, as being to straightforward is the downfall of many a poet). Then, once that’s all over, I’m done. On a good day, I might be able to draft three poems, and on an even better day, I will write one poem that I believe needs no revision. These, I believe, are some of my most genuine works: as they were conceived, written, and polished all within that moment. On a day where I feel like I need to write but I just don’t have any ideas I keep my eyes and ears wide open. Inspiration is everywhere; you just have to look for it.

MDO: What do you like about writing poetry?

DH: My favorite thing about writing poetry is actually watching people’s faces during a recitation or reading. This may seem weird, but I’ll explain anecdotally: at the most recent Coffeehouse, I decided to recite my poems rather than read them. This meant that I could watch the entire audience as I recited. There were two reasons why I did this. First, I believe I was able to better embody the poem by reciting it from memory. It became a part of me, just as my Poetry Out Loud poems did. Secondly and perhaps more importantly, I got to watch as listeners understood and enjoyed the poem. When you see someone get it, whether it be a line, a stanza, or the whole poem, witnessing that eureka moment: it’s priceless. It means that the message was conveyed. I find great pleasure in knowing that my voice was truly heard, not just the words.

MDO: Anything else you’d like to say?

DH: I’d like to say thanks for taking the time to read about my experience with Poetry Out Loud, my founding of the Poetry Club, and how I go about writing! I’m looking to publish a collection in the near future so if you are interested, let me know! I’ll give you copies of some of the poems I’m considering including! Also, feel free to stop by to the Poetry Club anytime you like! We are always accepting new members so don’t be shy!