The eighth season of Project Poet, the annual campus poetry competition, got off to a heated start last night as 178 students, faculty, and staff packed the Black Box Theatre for the season premiere.
The competition was fierce as 19 students performed their childhood memory poems in front of the audience and three faculty judges. The night ended with a tie between David Pluebell, a senior from Plano, Texas, and Cole Clementson, a senior from New Blaine, Ark.
Pluebell’s poem was titled "Love is a Battlefield" and Clementson’s winning poem was "The Logic of a Bestselling Children’s Game." Both competitors won immunity for next week’s challenge, and they’ll be joined by 14 of their fellow poets as they face the second challenge of the season.
The remaining poets, in addition to Pluebell and Clementson, are Sierra Bates, Chelsey Becker, Ashley Clayton, Sandra Davis, Emily Gorham, Karl Kreitlein, Cat Mays, Kincaid McMinn, Alyssa Nystrom, Tori Rhein, Utah Robertson, Jennifer Scott, Amy Toombs, and Sarah Valentine.
Next week’s challenge is a Project Poet tradition and always evokes creative responses. The competitors have to write a poem that takes a character from history, legend, or popular culture and puts that character in an unusual but revealing situation. The contestants will present their poems next Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 9:30 p.m. in the Black Box Theatre.
For more information about Project Poet and to read the winning poems from week one, visit our website at www.ozarks.edu/ProjectPoet.
Topics: Student Events