Rosemarie Dombrowski is probably known best among students taking upper-level literature classes on the downtown Phoenix campus, but she is also a part of something that allows her to take a look at the past and experience language in a different way — and she wants to share that with everyone.
Dombrowski has been co-hosting the Phoenix Poetry Series, a poetry event that reaches out to poetry lovers from ASU, Maricopa Community Colleges and more. She and a former student, Bryan Hall, created the First Fridays Poetry event at Heritage Square near the Downtown campus. Friday marked the beginning of something she hopes will become a large part of downtown student life.
Bryan Hall has a deep connection to poetry, which is one of the main reasons why he had asked Dombrowski to allow him to co-host with her and be a part of the event.
“After starting college, I became fed up with myself for never finishing any of my longer endeavors, so I tried my hand at poetry. It was in this form of creative writing that I began to show promise. And it had become the standard way for me to release frustration over living life with a disability,” said Hall, who was born with spina bifida.
He said that he got an opportunity to submit poetry in one of Dombrowski’s English classes and has run with it ever since. Hall added that poetry is an outlet of pride, joy and contentment for him.
“I think it’s very important to share art and culture. The desire to connect with people, to be heard and to be understood are all common threads shared by everyone on the planet. It’s obvious that while sharing art is beneficial to others, being artistic is ultimately very self-serving,” he said.
Despite the chilly night, poets took the stage to share their favorite pieces to a crowd of kids, students and adults, all focused on the beautiful spoken words.
“I enjoy writing a lot,” said Tyler Espe, an ASU student attendee, in regard to his initial interest in the event. “A lot of people seem really interested.”
Dombrowski said language can connect the poet with the listener, which draws in members of the audience.
“Language is the one artistic medium that we all have access to,” Dombrowski said. “Everyone has paper and a pen, or a laptop and the internet. I want people to experience (the poets’) respective eras and lives and poetic lines … I want people to experience a remarkable phrase or latch onto an idea that they can believe in.”
Dombrowski also said she believes poetry is important because of its ability to “do things” and open the minds of the writer and reader “to magnify the minute, thereby allowing the audience to contemplate and question the intricacies of anything and everything.”
First Fridays Poetry aims to draw in a diverse audience by showcasing different poetry readers each month, including chosen faculty, students, writing groups, children and more.
An open-mic component is a powerful part of their time on stage to create bonds between the community, First Fridays Poetry headliners and the poetry itself.
“I’d love for every Downtown student to eventually participate in some capacity,” Dombrowski said.
“Participating in First Friday events is a great way to foster a sense of community. That sense of community is exactly what I’d like to see strengthened within poetic circles as a result of this series,” Hall said. “(Dombrowski and I are) both looking forward to maximizing the potential of the venue as time goes on and we hope this series will act as a catalyst to help further unify the writing community in the future.”
First Friday events showcase artistic talents of all types and is another form of entertainment that “mirrors our cultural identity,” said Mike Cryer, a professor and participant in the poetry event.
From now on, First Fridays Poetry will take place once a month from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Heritage Square near the Artlink Gallery. Along with the more well known First Fridays art events around the ASU campus, adding poetry to a nearby venue opens up the community to an even wider variety of artist mediums to embrace.
Contact the reporter at ashley.loose@asu.edu
