In honor of National Poetry Month, Southeastern students gathered in the Student Union Theater on April 28 to perform live poetry. 

Hosted by the departments of Communication and Media Studies, English and Music, these departments also gave participating students the opportunity to win scholarships. While the event was held in-person, it was also being live-streamed on Facebook as well.

The poetry slam’s theme was one of peace, and the five students involved all discussed this in their poetry. Whether it was a poem that was declaring action for peace or discussing how an absence of peace, these students all had the theme of peace and unity in their work. 

President of Phi Kappa Phi, Gregory “Alan” Cannon, announced the winner of the judge’s prize after all contestants shared their work. 

The winner of the judge’s prize was senior English major and creative writing minor Dalyn Wilson. Her poem was titled “Since You Didn’t Ask, I’m Just Going to Tell You.” 

This was actually Wilson’s first time sharing her poetry with others. 

“I used to hate poetry until I took Dr. Pelegrin’s class,” Wilson shared.

Alison Pelegrin, an English instructor, was one of the hosts for Wednesday’s poetry slam. 

Wilson said it was scary to share her work with fellow students at Southeastern, yet satisfying to know other people value what she has to say. 

Following this announcement, there was another award given called the crowd favorite. The winner of this award was a junior psychology major with a creative writing minor, Brytni Griggs. 

Her poem was titled “Can I Have a Piece of Your Peace?,” where her inspiration stems from her experiences with past relationships. 

Griggs mentioned how being involved in the poetry slam gave her an opportunity to step outside of her comfort zone. She said she was surprisingly impressed by how she performed.

She discussed her inspiration for the poem. 

She said, “My relationships, honestly. I would go to my partner seeking things that they couldn’t give me. I had to learn that, in the end, myself will bring me peace.”