The Northern Arizona Book Festival kicks off on Thursday, April 1, at 7:30 p.m.
On Saturday, April 3, from 3 to 4 p.m., a Poetry Out Loud event will commence, featuring three of Sedona’s own. Sedona Red Rock High School senior Isabella Constante and freshman Arabella Licher, as well as SRRHS alumna Christina Schweiss, are performing.
Constante and Licher both won the Northern Regional Poetry Out Loud competition and moved onto the state competition on March 15.
For Constante, poetry has been a passion of hers since she was a child and she is looking forward to sharing her work with her audience.
“I’ve written and recited poetry since my childhood days shining on my beloved tree swing in my front yard. There is a truly fascinating world that can be built in between words. I am thrilled to share this world with my audience at the Northern Arizona Book Festival. One of the poems I will recite is an original and the other I performed at the Poetry Out Loud State competition. I am besotted with both of the worlds engraved in these poems,” Constante said.
Licher is looking forward to presenting her craft and listening to her peers perform.
“What I’m most excited about participating in the Poetry Out Loud section of the NOAZ Book Festival is sharing the voices of the poets. It is a great honor to relay their message and I am looking forward to hearing others poets perform,” Licher said.
For 2020 SRRHS alumna Christina Schweiss, Poetry Out Loud has been a big part of her life.
“I was extremely involved in Poetry Out Loud at Red Rock. All four years of my high school career I made it to the regional level of the competition, and for two years of it, I made it all the way to state. I even helped start the Poetry Club at Red Rock where students are able to share their own poems and artistic thoughts. I love poetry above anything else. Reading it, writing it, reciting it — poetry is my passion.’
Schweiss is currently attending Southern Utah University to study everything Shakespeare, since it is home to the award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival. She will perform two poems during the NOAZ Book Festival Poetry Out Loud event, Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare and “Where Hath He Gone” an original, which follows the story of Ophelia right before her death over Hamlet and everything he had done. After a year unlike any other, Schweiss is excited to make the most of this opportunity.
“I can’t wait to recite poetry for the NOAZ Book Festival because, due to COVID, I haven’t been able to perform artistically as much as I would like. This opportunity is very exciting to me and shines as a beacon of hope in my eyes that the end of an artistically dark year is coming to a close.”
SRRHS has been participating in Poetry Out Loud for 14 years. SRRHS English teacher Karyl Goldsmith knows first-hand how rigorous Poetry Out Loud performing can be and is incredibly proud of Constante, Licher and Schweiss.
“Poetry Out Loud is a ‘fierce’ competition in that the competitor is all alone on a stage presenting another poet’s words. They must bring the poem’s imagery and themes alive without any props, or even really any ‘acting.’ They must use the power of their voices. Each year they amaze me and our school audience as well as the Flagstaff and Phoenix audiences with their artistry in the spoken word. I am crazy proud of these young women,” Goldsmith said.
The Northern Arizona Book Festival runs from April 1 through 4. All events will be held via Zoom. Visit noazbookfest.org/schedule-of-events to download the official 2021 event program.
