Beth Swinning

Poetry has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. As an elementary student, I have vivid memories of creating poetry with various teachers and honing my craft through workshops and seminars. As I grew older, poetry became my main form of self-expression and self-reflection. Boxes of spiral-bound notebooks filled with poetry clutter my basement from my teenage years, where everything felt so intensely had to be expressed. As a young adult, newly married with a small child, I moved across the country to Massachusetts, a state I had never stepped foot in before that moment. Poetry was my vehicle as I struggled to reconnect with and work on this new version of myself. I discovered and began to attend weekly open mic poetry nights in a small café in East Bridgewater and found my new self. 

Now, years later, I find myself living in the amazing town of Westwood, MA. When I became the librarian at the Martha Jones School in 2015, I felt an immediate sense of belonging that I had been missing up to that point. When my daughter graduated from high school in 2019, I moved my family to Westwood so that my youngest son could experience the incredible community that is Westwood and the wonderful people that fill our public schools.

I use poetry in my lessons year-round as a teacher and librarian. My favorite month of teaching has become April. National Poetry Month is my time to focus on and really embrace the medium with the students and get them excited about poetry. One of the first things I explain to my students about poetry is that poetry is art—art with words. Poetry can be anything you need or want it to be. It can be one word long or a thousand words long. Poetry can rhyme or not. It can be written with all capitals or no capitals. It can go in a straight line from left to right, or if you would like, it can go up and down or even in circles. Poetry can make you feel anything or let you express anything. Poetry can be sounds and pictures, tastes and feelings. Most of all, poetry can be fun!

I think that many people are first introduced to poetry through Shel Silverstein. His humorous and relatable poems ensnare our youngest readers, and many older readers still remember their favorites. My most recent poetry is written with children in mind, created either for a lesson, as an example, or inspired by some of the more quirky parts of spending most days with small children. 

As Poet Laureate, my goal is to bring the art and wonder of poetry to the poets and future poets of Westwood. We will explore poetry as art and expression and discover how fun and freeing it can be. I would like to reach those who might not think of themselves as poets by introducing various forms of “found poetry.” With the amazing collection at the Westwood Public Library, we can create poetry art together through workshops on Spine Poetry, Blackout Poetry, Concrete Poetry, and more. I would love to bring poetry to all corners of Westwood, showcasing this art in schools, businesses, libraries, and parks.

There is also space for those who might need a safe place to express themselves without fear or judgment. A place to belong. A place to be heard and to listen to others through regularly scheduled open mic poetry nights.