Spoken word poet, Megan Falley, performs for Farragut seniors
On Thursday, January 19th, nationally acclaimed spoken word poet Megan Falley performed for the seniors of Mrs. Ewing’s English class in the Student Center. Though this is her fourth year visiting Farragut, this is the first time she’s done an entire performance for the students.
She started off with her popular poem “Fat Girl”, an anthem to body positivity, before delving into deeper subject matter. “I always expect the younger students to want more funny and light material, and they always surprise me by wanting the deep stuff,” she said.
After Falley read poems from her books and more recent ones written on her smart phone, she opened the floor to questioning. The students were full of questions, ranging from certain incidents mentioned in her poems to questions about her process and how to overcome writer’s block.
“A good way to figure out what your writing process is to think about all the times you wrote your best work and think about the circumstances. How many cups of coffee did you have? Was it at night? Were you in your bed? And then always try to recreate those scenarios to set yourself up for success.”
One of the students with a question for Falley was senior Ashton Taylor. He asked about whether she practices her poetry at home to get the emotions right, or if they come to her in the moment.
“Sometimes I’ll get really wrapped up in what I’m saying and I will cry, and sometimes I can click back into the emotions I was feeling when I did write it. It’s kind of a cross between acting and poetry,” said Falley. “It’s not so practiced, it’s kinda just in my head where my emotions would be.”
“She was amazing,” said Taylor. “I’m still nervous about speaking in front of groups, but she inspired me to really practice performing my poetry and to get better at writing it.”
Taylor was among Poetry Club students who stayed after Falley’s performance to do an impromptu reading for her.
“I was really glad that they were inspired to share their poetry with me,” Falley said afterward with a smile.
You can view some of Megan Falley’s performances and read her poems by visiting her website at www.meganfalley.com.
