Awarding Winning Poet Visits Mrs. Lanphear’s English II
With the words: “Your Writing Counts” projected on the screen behind him, Jovan Mays, a slam poet, shared an original piece with Mrs. Lanphear English II class. The piece was filled with vivid imagery and lively similes in an attempt to capture the essence of what it means to be a poet—a question he says poets are often asked.
“It is easy, but it is not,” he claims in regard to writing original performance poems. It is easy to free write (an activity he encouraged students to practice daily), but one has to commit to the work. Mays, from Denver, Colorado, is a member of the Slam Nuba competitive poetry team. Slam Nuba’s mission is “to promote the creation and performance of poetry by cultivating literary activities and engaging community fixated on the power of the written and spoken word.”
Traveling to Boston, Massachusetts to compete, Slam Nuba became the 2011 National Poetry Slam Champions after performing for more than 2,500 people; in 2012, the team again reached semi-finals at the national competition, this time competing in Charlotte, North Carolina. Individually, Mays has won the City Slam Champ and has a contract to have a collection of his poetry published next year. In his presentation to the students on March 15, 2013, Mays explained that to him being a poet is about blending “truth and techniques.” He helped students investigate poetry while visiting and encouraged them to keep writing their own poems. Chadron High School was lucky to host such a talented wordsmith.
