This blog post was written by mentee-mentor pair Meek Thomas & Carlene Olsen.
Let’s face it, it takes guts to get on stage and read your work aloud! My mentee, Meek, and I did just that as we powered through our poem Dear Guy at the April 24th Girls Write Now CHAPTERS reading series held at Scholastic.
Stand back, pre-performance jitters; you’ve got nothing on us!
Meek and I are a first-year mentee-mentor pair at GWN, which means CHAPTERS marked our first opportunity to perform publicly together. It was such an honor to share the stage with renowned writer Emily St. John Mandel and our talented co-performers.
The Piece
Meek: For CHAPTERS I knew just what I wanted to write. The previous day, walking home from school, I had gotten stares and some comments from older men in the street. It made my blood boil. When I entered the cafe on Tuesday for my weekly pair session with Carlene, I blurted out I wanted to write about women being catcalled in Brooklyn and how it may make us feel inferior. Carlene loved the idea and we began sketching the beginnings of Dear Guy.
Carlene: Meek knew exactly what she wanted to write for CHAPTERS. She said, “Let’s write a poem about being catcalled in Brooklyn and focus on how that makes us feel as women.” My response: “Brilliant. Yes. Let’s do it!”
Practice Makes Perfect
Meek: Conquering the CHAPTERS dress rehearsal was a huge step in overcoming my fear of public speaking. With the support of other mentees and mentors, we read our poem aloud to an audience for the first time. After reading our poem, Carlene and I received helpful tips on how to make our piece stronger and clearer.
Carlene: We prepped for the big night by attending a CHAPTERS dress rehearsal at the GWN office called a Performance Tech session. During the rehearsal, we read our poem aloud and received super helpful feedback from the mentors and mentees in the room. Almost everyone was reminded to talk slowly, including us.
And finally …
Meek: I was extremely nervous to go on stage and perform for CHAPTERS. Before we took the stage, we did great exercises to shake out all those nerves. With a few more run-throughs with Carlene, I was ready to just go for it. When we did get on stage we went for it, and the applause and feedback from the audience was the best reward I could get.
Carlene: Just before the auditorium filled up, the GWN readers (as well as Emily St. John Mandel) did some warm-up exercises to shake out any nervousness and get pumped for the show. When it was time for Meek and me to head on stage, we took a breath, owned our moment with the microphone, and walked off to the sweet sound of applause.
If you missed this opportunity to watch the amazing GWN mentees perform their pieces, don’t worry! You still have two more chances to join us for some more CHAPTERS readings with very special guest authors:
- Friday, May 29, 6-8 PM at Scholastic: Roxane Gay
- Friday, June 19, 6-8 PM at Rose Auditorium at the Cooper Union (41 Cooper Sq.): Quiara Alegria Hudes*