In 1996, the Academy of American Poets started celebrating National Poetry Month during April. This month helps remind the public of the important role poets play in our culture and society. In celebration, we’ve asked poets across the College to share their stories with us.
Brita Thielen, English PhD Candidate 
Initially considering herself more of a fiction/creative nonfiction writer versus a poetry writer, Thielen wrote a “little poetry during undergraduate creative writing classes”. It wasn’t until she started taking workshops with Sarah Gridley that she found her passion for poetry. “She really helped me reframe poetry as an experience, rather than as a puzzle to solve or unlock,” Thielen shared. It was Gridley’s engagement with her poems mixed with the feedback she received from the other members of the workshop that truly helped her see herself as a poet for the first time.