Fragments: The Need for Attention
By Ugonna Agwu
My stop-motion poem is inviting, and it gives good advice on how to live your life: try to be more open and express how you feel to others, so that you are not bottling up your problems and keeping them to yourself. The found poem was inspired by words that stood out to me in a few used books, and as I highlighted many words, it became easier to pinpoint the topic of the poem.
Process
The idea started in a pair session with my mentor about found poetry, and then in our mentees-only workshop we learned about stop-motion video. It was challenging because the process of making stop-motion is very detail-oriented, so we had to experiment with different devices, lighting, apps, and editing. I’m really proud of how it turned out, and I really like my poem.
Meet the Pair
MENTEE UGONNA AGWU & MENTOR KATE NEWMAN
Ugonna’s Anecdote: This is my first year at Girls Write Now and so far, so good. My mentor Kate has helped me broaden my experience with writing. I really enjoyed writing my short story “If Walls Could Talk,” which is the beginning of a book I am definitely planning to continue. Kate helped me find a passion in poetry, which I really enjoy writing, and for this I owe a huge thanks to her.
Kate’s Anecdote: I am astonished by Ugonna’s creativity and willingness to try different kinds of writing. My favorite pair session was our first experiment with found poetry, when we cut words out of used books to shape into our own stories. The depth of feeling in Ugonna’s first poem blew me away—and she’s only continued to impress me with her thoughtful choice of words for every piece of writing! I’m very excited to see her explore more forms and genres in our future years together.
Ugonna Agwu
Ugonna Agwu is a class of 2020 Girls Write Now mentee based in Bronx, NY.
