Missoula Writing Collaborative: young poets | Elissa Taylor & David Bower | TEDxUMontana

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.
Elissa Taylor, age 14, and David Bower, age 10, read their original poems. They are colleagues at the Missoula Writing Collaborative in Missoula, Montana.

Since 1994 the Missoula
Writing Collaborative

has been bringing
creative writing to children,

teaching them the value of imagination,

curiosity, connection, struggle, and play.

We serve about 20 schools each year
in western Montana and beyond.

And recently, through a National
Endowment for the Arts "Our Town" grant,

we've taken this teachings
to the streets, up the mountains,

down to the rivers,

as students explore

the urban and wild environments
that they call home.

Young writers in our program
learn from the greats: Pablo Neruda,

Elizabeth Bishop,
Richard Hugo, James Welch.

And they work directly

with people in our community
who have made writing their life's work.

Many of these writers studied
at the University of Montana.

And young adults who once had our program
as kids are studying there now.

Some have returned to their
childhood schools as teachers themselves.

They teach their students

that the greatest material
consists of the details,

simple and profound of their own lives.

Students connect this
with the experience of others

and with facts about
any number of things:

from what it's like to live in Nicaragua,
to the moisture content of clouds.

Writing creatively means
asking big questions:

What is this Earth? Who am I on it?

And attaching these
to particular, tangible things:

the play of shadows on moving water,

an imagined encounter on an unpaved road,

the memory of a grandmother's hair.

Paying attention to simple things helps
anyone develop a poetic sensibility,

and a poetic sensibility
opens up the world.

Suddenly, poetry is everywhere,

and when it comes to enjoying
this wealth of experience,

each child is as rich as the next.

It's my honor to introduce to you,

two Missoula Writing
Collaborative students.

They were in our summer camp this year.

Elissa Taylor, who just turned 15,

and her summer camp cohort,
and colleague David Bower.

(Applause)

Elissa Taylor: "Land,"
and this was inspired

by the painting "Going to the sun,"
or "Chief Mountain," by Julia Siler.

"The land feels... different.

In all the neighboring pockets
of universe, you hear the wind,

taste the dust, and know the big space.

The land feels... different.

In all the next door pieces
of universe, colors are faded

as if worn by time and thrown lightly.

The land feels... different.

In this snippet of universe,

you hear the stream, taste pure air,
and know the closeness of the land.

The land feels different.

In this bubble of universe,
colors are bright,

as if glowing with vitality
and sat down heavily.

The land feels."

(Applause)

David Bower: Hi my name is David.
I'll be reading two poems for you today.

The first one is called "Morning."

It was inspired by waking up
on a spring morning.

"There's a fresh atmosphere this morning.

Bird's chirping, fresh smells,
eggs cooking, people sleeping.

The beautiful morning!"

The next poem is called "Air."
It's an acrostic poem.

"Alone in the dark

Inside the old dusty box

reading the forbidden book."

(Crowd chuckles)

(Applause)