Poet Laureate Dana Gioia
California Poet Laureate Dana Gioia visited LJCDS on Friday, September 23, to conduct a poetry writing workshop with a small group of Upper School students and to perform a poetry reading for all of Upper School, faculty, staff and parents.
Approximately 20 students from Grades 9-12 participated in the poetry writing workshop. The interactive session started with Gioia revealing how he was able to continue his passion and still support his family earlier in his career. He shared that it meant working a 10 hour day while finding time to write at night. He describes poetry as casting a spell, enchanting the reader and luring them in with a rhythm. Gioia told the students to trust their subconscious mind because most people are self-critical of their own writing ability. One student asked what he does when he experiences writer’s block, and Gioia suggested telling the story from a different perspective, maybe through the eyes of a different character. To support his technique, he also shared his 13 ideas about writing poems.
In his reading to the LJCDS community, Gioia read a sample of poems and part of his first opera libretto, Nosferatu. To hear him recite two of his poems from his latest book, 99 Poems: New and Selected, click here. After the reading, Gioia took questions and signed copies of his book.
Gioia is the former chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), where he is considered by many as “The Man who Saved the NEA.” His first project at the NEA was to encourage U.S. troops and their families to write down their experiences that were subsequently published in an anthology, Operation Homecoming. Another successful project Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest involves nearly half a million high school students across the country with a total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends awarded annually at the National Finals.
Governor Jerry Brown appointed Gioia California Poet Laureate in 2015 for a two-year term to serve as the state advocate for poetry and literature in libraries, classrooms and boardrooms. He is currently touring with a goal to visit all 58 counties in the state. He’s also written for the musical world and even toured with a jazz group. To read Gioia’s full bio and see a list of his publications, click here.
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La Jolla, CA 92037
858-453-3440
© 2024 La Jolla Country Day School
Privacy Policy
COVID-19 Prevention Plan
