Former Poet Laureate of Virginia Tim Seibles read several of his poems to a large group of students in Johnson Theater on Wednesday, April 10.
An award-winning author - his Fast Animal was a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award - Seibles is the Poet in Residence at Norfolk Academy this semester and has visited a number of Upper School English classes. Seibles graduated from Southern Methodist University in Texas before teaching high school English for a decade. He later served as an English professor at Old Dominion University for about 20 years. He was Virginia's Poet Laureate from 2016 until 2018.
“I feel inspired every time I hear Mr. Seibles read his poetry," said Upper School English Teacher Ari Zito, who heads the English Department and organized the assembly, which was open to all students during H Bell.
Seibles has written seven poetry collections and his work has appeared in numerous other anthologies. He remains active; his work appeared in The Best American Poetry 2023 and he recently wrote a poem for a monument dedicated to the Norfolk 17, African American students who began the process of integrating the city’s public schools.
“Poetry can do all kinds of things," Seibles told students, before covering a wide array of areas with his words, from spring and basketball to cartoon characters and people he knew decades ago as a teenager growing up in Philadelphia.