Arts and Entertainment

Valentine poetry jam gives community members chance to 'celebrate one another'

By Danielle Slabbekoorn GVL Staff Writer
2/7/2010

The Positive Black Women Scholarship Endowment will offer a Valentine's Day Poetry Jam for all students, faculty and staff to perform their writing talents and enjoy each other's company Friday.

This poetry event features poems dealing solely with love in celebration of the time of year, and everyone is welcome to enjoy a light lunch and beverages.

PBW at Grand Valley State University began in 1994, but has become more prominent within the last 10 years.

The Valentine's Day Poetry Jam event will resemble a poetry slam, but with an open and respectful atmosphere as participants share their poetry on love.

Participants can share anything about love in their poetry, whether it be about heartbreak or relationships.

Each participant will have a maximum of a two-minute poetry reading with about 30 seconds worth of crowd interaction after each one.

"We are trying to go for a coffeehouse setting with music and candlelight," said Michelle McCloud, secretary on the scholarship board and event coordinator.

She hopes it will be something they can continue to do each year or even twice a year.

"We want to create a positive atmosphere on campus, especially during Valentine's Day," McCloud said. "Everyone will get a token like flowers or candy bags."

In the past, PBW has always hosted a Valentine's Day Luncheon, but this year they wanted to try something different to get more people involved. McCloud said it was more about getting people involved in the community than it was raising awareness for PBW.

"We want people to come so they won't be by themselves on Valentine's," she said. "We want to display everyone's talents and promote a positive Valentine's spirit."

Harriet Singleton, another member of the scholarship board, will create a poem and share it at the beginning of the event to welcome students.

"My message to the audience is that one person can make a difference," Singleton, who works at the downtown campus Counseling Center, said. "We wanted to have one day for everyone to feel special and come out on Valentine's Day."

She said this event started because of the people she saw at the Counseling Center during this time of year.

"People come into the Counseling Center who are depressed because they don't have a significant other to celebrate (Valentine's Day) with," she said.

Koleta Moore, president of PBW and one of the founding members since 1994, said she hopes this event will bring the GVSU community together in a positive way.

"The event was a way for people to celebrate themselves on Valentine's Day," she said. "Valentine's Day is a day that people often feel lonely and we wanted them to celebrate one another."

She said it is an event that will "empower individuals to have a voice" and celebrate individual uniqueness.

PBW's Valentine's Day Poetry Jam will be on Friday from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Grand River Room in the Kirkhof Center.

dslabbekoorn@lanthorn.com

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