On June 2nd, Wheatley’s very own Vintage club hosted their 55th annual coffeehouse! Held at the end of the year with the theme of Ocean, they welcomed the fresh embrace of summer as students, teachers, and family members all met in room 450 for an evening of reading poems and eating delicious food provided by the club. On each of the beautiful and thematically decorated tables were official copies of “The Wheatley School’s Literary Magazine,” a seemingly small book that is two hundred and eighty nine pages long with two-hundred striking and beautiful expressions, emotions, prose, and creative pieces from Wheatley’s very own wonderful writers, marking this specific magazine as one of the largest editions in five years.
This gorgeous literary magazine holds submitted art from students from within the club and outside of the club. The main theme for this year’s edition is “Metamorphosis,” and the inside of the magazine is divided into three distinct sections: “From our secret garden,” “over unknown seas,” and “until we find ourselves.” It lays a heavy hand with nostalgia in tandem with the sweet goodbyes of several of Vintage’s long time graduating members.
I highly recommend purchasing a copy for ten dollars! There are so many wonderful and surprising new creative works lying in wait on each and every page!
Now, besides the magazine and poetry, there was a beautiful applause for Vintage‘s wonderful teacher advisor Ms. Kash, Pavithra Eswar’s cover of “All I want” by Olivia Rodrigo, Armaan Sheiklar, who performed a song on the saxophone, and Faith Wong, who performed a hilarious comedy skit about how school sometimes teaches us things we’ll never really need.
The Vintage club is an amazing club, and as such also reminisced on a multitude of school events and field trips such as the Dodge Poetry festival in New Jersey and a trip to Sleepy Hollow for its awesome autumnal and spooky vibes to inspire its writers. The club also held a school-wide poetry contest for all to submit their work. The winners read their poems out loud.
In first place, Danielle Emouna and her poem “Golden Stains” on page 287. It is a poem filled with the strong mantle of family tradition and enormous pride in its survival, even when it is supplanted into a new and unfamiliar land.
In second place, Maaria Hameedi and her poem “Oppression Makes a Wise Man Mad on page 55. Her poem holds a strong emphasis on a revolution against the greedy and powerful oppressors of the world, and the unshakable relevance of the fight of history in their pursuit.
In third place, Sabrina Pezzillo and her poem “The Old Country” on page 161. This poem is about the conscious act and choice of appreciating the existence of an old mentality, yet cutting it off and leaving it behind for the greater good.
Definitely check out these poems in the Wheatley School’s Literary magazine in order to see the art that the descriptions were forged from, including every single breathtaking work.
Next, the published poets were called up to read their poems out loud to the coffeehouse audience. It was a little bit nerve wracking to say the least, however, it also felt very liberating to share poetry out loud and on the spot, with the order being randomized. It serves as a way to remind writers that everyone else would be reading for the night, so there were no estranged poets in the crowd.
Overall, I personally thought it was an unforgettable opportunity that helped me grow in terms of public speaking, and I was amazed and inspired by all of the various writing styles and poetic memories shared generously by all of my peers! For the readers, if you have any interest in writing, feel free to submit to Vintages various competitions and literary magazines during the next year!
Never be afraid to share your work, no matter what you think it is. Someone else will find it absolutely wonderful!