Poetry Fellow Visits OPRF

Terrance Hayes, winner of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, and the 2010 National Book Award in Poetry, visited recently, offering up advice in a writing workshop. 

School officials said OPRF spoken word teacher Peter Kahn invited Hayes at a conference last year and was "thrilled and surprised" when he accepted. 

School spokeswoman Kay Foran said it wasn't just Hayes who made an impression on the poetry scene — Hannah Srajer finished 4th in the Manningham National competition sponsored by the National Federation of Poetry Societies. Foran said OPRF also learned the Oak Park Writers Group has named a number of OPRF of students winners of it 2011 High School Poetry Contest. They are:

A GROUP (Freshman/Sophomore)
 
1st      Habits by Natalie Richardson, OPRF 
2nd    Crusade by Hannah Srajer, OPRF 
3rd     Palm Prints by Natalie Richardson, OPRF 
 
B GROUP (Junior/Senior)
 
1st      , OPRF
2nd     Meda Se by Sherry Reuter, OPRF
3rd     Aging Backwards by Sherry Reuter, OPRF
4th     Ode to the Spanish Language, by Christian Robinson, OPRF
5th     Answers, by Kris Murray, OPRF
6th     Love Poem to my Mother, by Cailynn Sturkey, OPRF