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The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

Estelle Cimino, who visited the upper school campus with the Beat Museum on Wheels, reads a poem from Beat Generation author Ruth Weiss at their speaker event on Feb. 24. The "BeatMobile" came to the campus for the day to educate about the Beat Generation authors of the 1950s.

Beat Museum on Wheels teaches about Beat Generation at upper school visit

by Sally Zhu, A&E and Lifestyle Editor March 4, 2022

The Beat Museum on Wheels visited the upper school campus on Feb. 24 and stayed throughout the day, setting up a truck outside of Manzanita where students could explore the Beat Generation and also delivering...

Keith S. Wilson, an Affrilachian poet and game designer, sees the world through visual textures. He enjoys experimenting with the physical space of the page when he writes his poems, letting words leap and splay.

The Poet’s Project: ‘I come to video games thinking that they’re equally capable of being art’

by Sarah Mohammed, Features Editor February 27, 2022

Keith S. Wilson is an Affrilachian poet, game designer and author of “Fieldnotes on Ordinary Love” (Copper Canyon), which was recognized by the New York Times as a best new book of poetry. His work...

Writer's Advocate officer Sydney Ling (10) listens as Sarah Mohammed (11) provides feedback on a club member's piece last Monday during the annual Writer’s Advocate Scholastic Awards writing workshop. “It was a very open and communal space where everyone felt pretty supported and held in their art, which is ultimately what we want to do,” Sarah said.

Students explore poetry and writing at annual Writer’s Advocate Scholastic Awards workshop

by Selina Xu, Reporter November 22, 2021

Five students attended the annual Writer’s Advocate Scholastic Awards writing workshop last Monday at 3:30 p.m in upper school English teacher Jennifer Siraganian’s room, where members reviewed each...

"We will not be writing just for no reason, but hopefully we don't necessarily always know why we’re writing, we know only that there is a kind of insistence in language. Poems really do begin with playing," poet Philip Metres said.

The Poet’s Project: ‘I wrote those lines because they were true’

by Sarah Mohammed, Features Editor November 19, 2021

Philip Metres is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, an award grant for exceptional creative thinkers to have time and space for their craft, and the author of 10 books, including his most recent collection...

"I wrote about my family through very narrative poems, but I grew the most when I met spoken word artists and highly experimental writers doing something I've never seen before. That was very impactful as a writer myself: to come into contact with new ways of thinking," poet Cathy Linh Che said.

The Poet’s Project: “To see history being made”

by Sarah Mohammed, Features Editor September 19, 2021

Cathy Linh Che is the author of “Split” (Alice James Books), a poetry book that chronicles her experiences with family, identity and childhood. Cathy is the Executive Director of Kundiman, a national...

"My role as a poet, as a person in the literary community is to advocate for literature, my own and others’. I think that's an incredible responsibility, and one that I take on and welcome," poet Ruben Quesada said.

The Poet’s Project: “Taking the world apart at its smallest level”

by Sarah Mohammed, Features Editor August 21, 2021

Ruben Quesada is a Latinx poet, critic and community organizer raised in Los Angeles and currently living in Chicago. He is the author of two poetry collections, “Revelations” (Sibling Rivalry Press...

Junior Sarah Mohammed (11) was named National Student Poet in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Her poetry told stories related to her own culture and background.

Junior Sarah Mohammed named National Student Poet in Scholastic Art and Writing Awards

by Aastha Mangla, Asst. A&E and Lifestyle Editor August 16, 2021

In late June, Sarah Mohammed (11) received the news that she was titled one of the five national student poets in the country after submitting to the 2021 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards poetry category.  Sarah’s...

Class of 2021 alumni Arusha Patil and Michelle Si speak with writer Jody Brady during a field trip to the Beat Museum on June 26. Organized by upper school English teacher Charles Shuttleworth, the field trip included 13 alumni from Shuttleworth's senior English elective courses, Postmodernism and Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation.

Class of 2021 alumni discover Beat Generation poetry roots in San Francisco

by Sarah Mohammed, Features Editor June 30, 2021

Wooden bookcases line the warm red walls, each shelf brimming with poetry books—yellow-tinted pages lovingly dog-eared at the corners. Hanging from the ceiling, musicians and writers fill a black-and-white...

"Be the person you are and write the poems and the stories that are in you and that you're surrounded by because that's what's going to make fantastic poetry," Siraganian said.

The Poet’s Project: “There’s this musicality in us that comes out”

by Sarah Mohammed, Features Editor May 8, 2021

Upper School English Teacher Jen Siraganian is the Los Gatos Poet Laureate and the author of “Fracture” a poetry chapbook published by Deconstructed Artichoke Press.  She has discovered strength...

"My biggest tip [for young writers], the thing I would have told myself, is just to be as weird as you are in your writing. Let your images be strange. Pretend you're talking to yourself: give yourself that permission to talk. Be as weird as you are," Benaim said.

The Poet’s Project: “Poetry can show us what is possible”

by Sabrina Benaim, Guest Writer April 12, 2021

Sabrina Benaim is a poet from Canada who believes in the power of words as a source of togetherness, love and solidarity in the face of hardship. From teaching at workshops to posting snippets of small...

"What I hope for in poetry is a sense of the historical and desire. I hope that we don't get too enamored with the present or too overwhelmed by the present that we can't enjoy and use the perspective of the past," poet Yanyi said.

The Poet’s Project: “You can feel the poem in your body”

by Sarah Mohammed, Winged Post Asst. Features Editor March 5, 2021

Yanyi is the author of “Dream of the Divided Field” (One World Random House, forthcoming 2022) and “The Year of Blue Water” (Yale University Press 2019), which won the 2018 Yale Series of Younger...

Seventy-four upper school students received regional awards in the 2021 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition, with the results announced on January 28. The Scholastic Art and Writing awards is a competition held annually in which students can submit various works of art and writing in a variety of categories.

Upper school students recognized in annual Scholastic Art and Writing Awards

by Isha Moorjani, Winged Post Asst. News Editor February 28, 2021

Seventy-four upper school students received regional awards in the 2021 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition, with the results announced on January 28. The Scholastic Art and Writing awards is...

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