Poet Jack Ridl Visits AP Literature by Sophie Kuipers
Currently working on a poetry unit, Ms. Lewis’s AP Lit class was visited by poet and former Professor at Hope College, Jack Ridl. On Tuesday, December 5, Jack came in to talk with the AP Lit class about poetry, including reading and discussing his pieces.
Jack read his piece “My Brother—A Star” to the class, a moving poem about the death of his brother. After reading the poem to the class, Jack went into details about the poem, from the true story behind it to the poem’s composition. This analysis and story of his poem were very insightful and interesting, and it helped bring the poem to life. “It made me enthusiastic about poetry, and really made it mean something,” Layla Vinten-Johansen replied when asked about Jack’s visit.
After reading “My Brother—A Star,” Jack took questions from the class. When asked when he started writing poetry, Jack replied that he began to write poetry around the third grade, and he just never really stopped. He did mention that there was a bit of time in college when he lost some confidence and stopped writing, but he picked it up again and kept at it. Jack also spoke about his time traveling to Ireland, where he actually told people he was a poet one of the very few times he referred to himself as a poet when asked what his job was. In Ireland, the profession was regarded highly, and he was referred to as a tradesman, something he found really interesting and different from in America. Jack was also asked about the publishing process, to which he replied that it was a pretty tough process. He stated that there was a lot of rejection, and that to him, it was one of the harder parts of the writing process. From the various questions asked, we also learned that he wanted to be a songwriter, but chose to be a poet instead, which is pretty interesting!
All in all, Jack Ridl’s visit was enjoyed by everyone, and incredibly insightful! Everyone was incredibly happy to have him at the school and hear what he had to say. Jack also has a book coming out next fall, which everyone is excited to check out!
Jack read his piece “My Brother—A Star” to the class, a moving poem about the death of his brother. After reading the poem to the class, Jack went into details about the poem, from the true story behind it to the poem’s composition. This analysis and story of his poem were very insightful and interesting, and it helped bring the poem to life. “It made me enthusiastic about poetry, and really made it mean something,” Layla Vinten-Johansen replied when asked about Jack’s visit.
After reading “My Brother—A Star,” Jack took questions from the class. When asked when he started writing poetry, Jack replied that he began to write poetry around the third grade, and he just never really stopped. He did mention that there was a bit of time in college when he lost some confidence and stopped writing, but he picked it up again and kept at it. Jack also spoke about his time traveling to Ireland, where he actually told people he was a poet one of the very few times he referred to himself as a poet when asked what his job was. In Ireland, the profession was regarded highly, and he was referred to as a tradesman, something he found really interesting and different from in America. Jack was also asked about the publishing process, to which he replied that it was a pretty tough process. He stated that there was a lot of rejection, and that to him, it was one of the harder parts of the writing process. From the various questions asked, we also learned that he wanted to be a songwriter, but chose to be a poet instead, which is pretty interesting!
All in all, Jack Ridl’s visit was enjoyed by everyone, and incredibly insightful! Everyone was incredibly happy to have him at the school and hear what he had to say. Jack also has a book coming out next fall, which everyone is excited to check out!