UWT prepares for annual poetry festival with new features
UW Tacoma sees its third annual Poetry Festival, occurring as a multi-part event.
This article has been corrected for clarification of important information
By Michaela Ely
On April 28 UW Tacoma will be hosting their third annual Poetry Festival in William Philip Hall and the Jane Russell Commons. The third run of the festival promises to introduce new features that previous years didn’t have to celebrate National Poetry Month.
The Poetry Festival is co-coordinated by Dr. Sarah A. Chavez and Professor Ever Jones, both being UWT professors in the Writing Studies major in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences.
Dr. Chavez said in an interview with The Ledger that last year’s festival had run into some issues with funding caused by institutional factors. 2024’s Poetry Festival almost didn’t happen. With 2024’s institutional issues in mind Dr. Chavez and Professor Ever were awarded funding through the Husky Sustainability Fund, which is a funding organization directed by UWT students. The committee read the professors’ proposal and granted them the funding for the festival’s third year and for its growth. With this funding and additional support from the Student Activities Board (SAB) and student volunteers from UWT’s creative writing program and Wordlings, a Registered Student Organization for creative writers, UWT’s Poetry Festival was able to continue successfully this year.
“In that way, this year, the festival really is not a product of UWT administrative support, but student support,” Dr. Chavez said.
The first event was a poetry workshop that took place on April 16, titled “The Work of Poetry in Working-Class Poetry” with UW alumni poet Ricardo Ruiz at Blue Cactus Press Studio. Ruiz, whose work often draws from his experience of balancing his two cultures is a first generation Mexican-American from Othello, Washington with a Bachelors of Art in English and Creative Writing from UW.
The workshop invited students to reflect on their own experiences in the workforce through discussion and writing exercises.
Dr. Chavez explained that the room was packed with people and that during the evening portion, students and community members were excited to express themselves in the space.
“Especially that open mic, when people get up and share, and they feel like they are held by community in that moment. That, to me, is what makes the eight months of work really, really worth it,” Dr. Chavez told The Ledger.
The first official part of the main event will be April 28 from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Taking place exclusively in the Jane Russell Commons and feature RSO tables, magnetic poetry, and more. Additionally, one of the festival’s newest features will be premiered which is the community poetry mural that all students can contribute to.
“We are doing a poetry mural, which is where students will have the opportunity to come and contribute. We’re gonna have a saying that’s gonna be printed that people can paint, and then there’ll be places for people to paint around that. And then we’ll also have poetry bracelet making and snacks,” Dr. Chavez said.
There will be another part of the event in the Jane Russell Commons from 3:40 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. This part of the event is another writing workshop that will feature Tacoma poet and Founder of Blue Cactus Press Chris Vega, titled “Beyond Borders and Boundaries.”
The evening portion of the event will take place in William Philip Hall and will feature refreshments, a poetry information fair with local literary partners, featured poetry readings by poets Jennifer Perrine and Ricardo Ruiz, and an open mic for any students to share their work. The part of the event will also feature for the first time live music thanks to SAB.
“It sounds fancy and exclusive, but hopefully the Poetry Festival is a place to show everyone that poetry is literally for everyone, no matter what way you choose to engage with it,” Dr. Chavez said.
Dr. Chavez described poetry as an art form everyone can enjoy. She hopes to see the community come together and check out the festival.
