Shay Siegel and Mai Ismail have something in common: writing poetry. Ms. Siegel is a young-adult author and Mai is a high school student who hopes someday to publish her work, but they both use poetry as an outlet for expressing emotions that can often be difficult.
The East Hampton Library has brought them together through a contest to celebrate National Poetry Month in April.
Ms. Siegel, the author of "Bleeding Flowers," a poetry collection, and "Fractured," a Y.A. novel, will lead a virtual poetry reading on April 28 at 6 p.m. for the library. High school students are invited to submit their work, which will be reviewed and adjudicated by the library's young-adult librarians.
"I grew up selective mute, which is an extreme anxiety disorder. I always had trouble speaking, and in certain cases it was impossible for me to speak, especially in school settings," Ms. Siegel said. "When I couldn't speak, I was always able to write. It had a lot of importance to me in terms of communication and everyday life."
She said she still relates to teens, in a way. "Maybe I'm trying to redo my teen experience by writing for those age groups. It's a really challenging time and incredibly confusing."
Mai, a sophomore at South Brunswick High School in New Jersey who is taking part in the library's contest, is in the thick of that herself. "As an adolescent, there are events of complication which can affect one's life and mental health. . . . Poetry and writing become my outlets to express my emotions and alleviate any negativity."
National Poetry Month, a project of the American Academy of Poets, was established in 1996 to "remind the public that poets have an integral role to play in our culture and that poetry matters," according to the organization's website. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the annual poetry party.
Mai finds influence in the work of Emily Dickinson, Maya Angelou, Sylvia Plath, Walt Whitman, Ocean Vuong, and Rupi Kaur. Poetry "has an element of raw and deepness that speaks to my soul" and "can help grow one's maturity and understanding," she said.
Ms. Siegel says poetry "can be more personal and deeply emotional" than, say, a novel, "even one that might be inspired by true events. A novel isn't that snapshot of emotion that you get from poetry." She advises young poets to "appeal to the senses. Sensory descriptions are very powerful in writing."
The library has also been posting a poem-a-day on Instagram, which can be seen at @easthamptonlibrary. Teens can submit their poems by April 25 to [email protected] with the subject line "YA Poetry Contest" along with name, school, grade, and phone number.