The English Department and Poetry Club are excited to invite Ransom Everglades Alumni to join our campus-wide celebration of National Poetry Month! For those who don’t know, NAPOMO (as it is lovingly called) is a yearly celebration put on by the Academy of American Poets to connect people to poems.

This year, the Ransom Everglades community will write poetry that explores the theme of memory. This is where you come in! We hope you will consider joining us for a poetry exchange.

For this project, we are seeking original poems from alumni and faculty emeriti. Poems may be any length, form, or style. We hope that you will write about the theme as it relates to your memories of Ransom Everglades. The following is a list of questions to inspire your work:

• What do you most cherish about your time at RE?

• What spaces or places most anchor your memories of your time at RE?

• What smells, tastes, sounds, sights, or sensations inspire your sense of nostalgia for RE?

• Who from our community has made the greatest impression on you?

• What activities were you involved in while at RE? What do you remember about your experience of these activities?

• What memories do you have of various rites of passage (e.g. orientation, outward bound, grade-level trips, travel programs, homecoming, prom, brick-laying, graduation, etc.)?

• What archival objects do you have from your time at RE (e.g. articles of clothing, photographs, videos, graduation regalia, diploma, etc.), and what memories do these objects spark for you?

Students in the Poetry Club will match as many submissions as possible with current students and professional community members, who will then write poems of their own in response! 

Submissions are due on or before April 21, 2024. Happy writing!