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Thursday, February 5,
2004
Young Boston poets vie for chance to meet Maya Angelou
Asa Pittman
Feb. 5, 2004- A Boston Arts
Academy theatre major who dabbles in poetry, 17-year-old, high school
junior Jamila Capitman, expected her craft to someday win her fortune and
fame, but not so soon. To her joy, she has already scored both — plus a
possible rendezvous with lyrical guru, Maya Angelou.
The
second-place winner of a poetry contest sponsored by the world famous
poet, Capitman, and fellow awardees, Fenway High School eleventh grader
Lucretia Williams (first place) and Michael Mendes (third place), a junior
at BAA, beat out the more than 600 students from Fenway High School, the
Shelburne Community Center and the Boston Arts Academy invited to
compete.
Though judges and prizes played a factor in the
event, the contest’s primary purpose was to foster awareness, not
competition, says Dawn Singh, a publicist for Angelou and creator of the
poetry contest. “We wanted to get more young people involved in
poetry,”she said during a phone interview from her Jamaica Plain-based
publicity agency. The contest also promotes the upcoming visit of one of
Singh’s star clients, poet Maya Angelou, who performs at Boston Symphony
Hall, Feb. 6.
“We thought it was a great idea,” recalled Kimberly
Jones, director of external relations at BAA.
The contest fell
into step with a spate of poetry programs the arts-friendly school had
recently hosted, including a Slate Blue Live, a BAA poetry recital at the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and an in-school performance from spoken word
Broadway act, Def Poetry Jam.
A school-wide call for poems of any
topic and length came Dec. 1, an invitation good until the contest ended
Dec. 19. By Jan. 9, the four contest judges — three BAA teachers and a
Boston University creative scholars graduate student — had made their
decision and announced the winners. Capitman numbered among the lucky
trio.
The win garnered Capitman the fortune (a $15 gift
certificate) and fame (recognition in the BAA’s daily bulletin), though
modest, she’d hoped for, and a chance she never dared dream: to meet Maya
Angelou. Though she owns Angelou’s 1983 autobiography I Know Why the Caged
Bird Sings and admires much of the renowned poet’s works, the Roxbury teen
admits she might not have vied for the opportunity to meet her idol if not
for encouragement from a mentor.
Angelou will recite poetry composed over her more than 40-year career and offer commentary on current events. The topics addressed during Angelou’s 45 to 60-minute chat vary with each performance.
Abdi Ali, the BAA faculty advisor to the students behind Slate Blue, the school literary magazine to which Capitman contributes, convinced the reluctant artist to enter the contest with a five-stanza piece entitled “Poem.”
“It’s about my mother and me,” says Capitman of her award-winning poem, which explores a sometimes difficult parent-child relationship: “We move around each other a lot, but we still support each other.”
Capitman penned the verse in a day. Writing poetry, she says, is how she passes many days and records the happenings in her life. With any luck, Capitman’s next poem could be about an encounter with Maya Angleou. “I just want to be in her presence,” gushes the fledgling poet.
Whether Capitman and the other contest winners meet Angelou depends on the 75-year-old poet’s tight schedule, says Singh. On a nation-wide tour, Maya Angelou will appear in Boston for one night, Feb. 6, for an evening of spoken word, song, and inspiration.
Popular R&B/Blues group, the Nicole Nelson Band will open the Boston Symphony Hall event with a medley of tunes written in Angelou’s honor. The band’s 24-year-old lead singer also jump started her career with a contest — Nelson auditioned in Boston for the musical “Rent” on a lark and caused such a splash within months she had her own band.
“If I meet her, I’ll just want to hug
her.”
— Jamila Capitman
Angelou will recite poetry composed over her more than 40-year career and offer commentary on current events. The topics addressed during Angelou’s 45 to 60-minute chat vary with each performance, says Singh.
“If I meet her, I’ll just want to hug her,” Capitman says, a fervent wish she chases with a pragmatic afterthought that suggests her hobby may have turned into something more: “Plus, I’d love to get her feedback on my work.”
Dr. Angelou performs Friday, February 6, at Symphony Hall in Boston at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $29.95 to $69.95 and may be purchased by calling Symphony Charge at 1-888-266-1200 or by visiting www.bostonsymphonyhall.org.
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