April 2, 2022
By Emilia Calabrese
Editor-in-Chief
When Class of 2004 graduate Gia Grillo was in high school, she made history as LHS’ first poetry slam winner. She took home first place for her poem “Briefcase,” which addressed the way the world appears from the perspective of a child.
Almost two decades later, Grillo is still making her mark on the high school’s poetry community. On March 4, she returned to her alma mater to lead a workshop for 20 student poets.
At the workshop, which was conducted in two sessions in the media center, Grillo led the attendees in a series of writing exercises that included picture prompts and sentence starters. Grillo also read the poetry of Nobel Prize-winning poet T.S. Eliot in addition to sharing her own compositions.
“Allow yourself to write badly in order to get to the good stuff underneath. It’s the philosophy of poetry more then the specific techniques of writing [that matter].”
Grillo said her love of poetry began at the age of seven when her mother introduced her to the works of the mystery and macabre writer Edgar Allan Poe.
She said her earliest memory of reading her poetry to others was in third grade when her teacher instructed the class to write a poem about Halloween.
In that poem, Grillo used the word “hell” in reference to the afterlife, at which point her teacher told her she was not allowed to use that word.
“I told her, ‘Uh, poetic license. Well, actually I can because I’m using it in the correct context, so don’t tell me what I can and can’t use,’” Grillo said.
Grillo said she encourages students never to hold back when it comes to creative writing.
“Poetry articulates stuff that is very hard to articulate in prose and in other forms of art,” Grillo said. “It’s times like these [during the pandemic] where I think people just need poetry the most.”
Grillo said writer’s block develops when people expect to create a masterpiece on their first try. She said it is a lot of pressure to put on oneself and makes the creative process much more difficult.
“Allow yourself to write badly in order to get to the good stuff underneath. It’s the philosophy of poetry more than the specific techniques of writing [that matter],” Grillo said.
She said poets should only begin editing their work after they have completed a first draft. Then, poets can start moving stanzas around to enhance the finished product.
Grillo, who has conducted a variety of poetry workshops at LHS through the years, said she is passionate about inspiring the next generation of writers.
“This was a chance for me to pay it back, bringing my love of poetry [to] the next generation of poetry ambassadors,” Grillo said.
She said she recognizes the importance of mentorship because when she was in high school, her creative writing teacher Ms. Klein —who is now the staff developer of curriculum, instruction, assessment and technology—brought in poets to lead workshops.
“It was a really wonderful thing to have a teacher that was so invested in poetry as an art and giving us different perspectives,” Grillo said.
Sophomore Sadia Iqbal, who participated in the Winter Poetry Slam in December, said she gained knowledge and had fun at Grillo’s workshop.
“I learned how to write down my thoughts and ideas without deleting or constantly editing them,” Iqbal said.
Although participants were not required to share their work aloud, Iqbal read a piece she wrote based on Grillo’s five-minute sentence starter, “I think it’s broken.” In this creative work, Iqbal addressed the struggles of heartbreak.
“I read my freewriting [out loud] because I felt it had a deep meaning to it, and I was proud of what I came up with in such little time,” Iqbal said.
She said the workshop helped her gain confidence in her poetry writing skills, and she hopes to attend poetry workshops offered at LHS in the future.
Senior Joseph Morelli, who earned an honorable mention award at the Winter Poetry Slam, said his favorite part of the workshop was using a tarot card to gain inspiration for his writing.
“[Grillo] was a good facilitator. She was very encouraging and supportive of our work,” Morelli said.
He said Grillo introduced him to strategies that will be helpful as he moves forward with his writing.
“I learned that a poem or piece that I hate is a learning experience for the future,” Morelli said. “She taught me that any idea I have that isn’t used immediately can be restructured or reused for something later down the line.”
