Student Poets “Say What's Real”

By Rebecca Goldfine and Jordyn Birmingham ’24
Poet Weatherspoon ’25, in collaboration with The Bowdoin Review, invited students to share their poetry at a recent reading. The event was part of Bowdoin's yearlong commitment to exploring themes in Octavia Butler's novel Parable of the Sower.
Video by Jordyn Birmingham ’24

Coeditor-in-chief of The Bowdoin Review Noah Saperstein '25 was the first on stage to introduce the event. “So often at Bowdoin, we become wrapped up in our clubs, teams, cliques, or other group identities that we almost forget our own. This concert is about remembering our own experiences in the world, and about being brutally honest about them,” he said, before giving the stage over to fellow organizer Weatherspoon.

Seconds after Weatherspoon walked on stage, they got the crowd into a supportive mood, with lots of appreciative snapping. Turn to your neighbor, Weatherspoon instructed, and say, “Neighbor, I look good!” 

After audience members laughed and enthusiastically greeted those next to them, Weatherspoon said, “That energy, we do that all night!”

Students complied, snapping throughout the performances of the nine poets at the lines, words, and occasional rhymes that moved them.

Students recognized the passing of ‘beloved friend’ Omar Osman ’26 with a moment of silence before launching into the program. 

Student poets
A screenshot of students who presented their poetry at the event, which was sponsored by the McKeen Center for the Common Good and Bowdoin Student Government.