{"id":82200,"date":"2024-10-10T13:36:47","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T18:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=82200"},"modified":"2024-10-10T13:36:48","modified_gmt":"2024-10-10T18:36:48","slug":"fhsu-poet-laureate-spotlight-eileen-veatch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=82200","title":{"rendered":"FHSU Poet Laureate Spotlight: Eileen Veatch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By AIDA REYNOLDS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiger Media Network<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cLet my pen write veins on paper,<\/em>
And let my heart beat out blood<\/em>
I\u2019m gutting myself with this pen.<\/em>
Could you like me for me?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n– My therapy is your therapy<\/em> by Eileen Veatch
Veatch’s Reading of “My therapy is your therapy”<\/a>
<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Eileen Veatch is many things: a sophomore studying English with a writing concentration, a motorcyclist, and FHSU\u2019s current poet laureate. The role of poet laureate is one she was only recently elected to with the graduation of the prior position-holder, Liam Brown. But her life has been defined by verse and rhythm. Reading between the lines of poetry lies her lived experiences eloquently repackaged into stanzas.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veatch has published one collection of poetry thus far, entitled \u201c3am Notes\u201d, with the hopes of pursuing further publication through traditional routes later down the road. For now, she works alongside faculty such as Morgan Chalfant to bring her vision of all that poetry can mean to life in her community. Veatch\u2019s work proves that poetry is more than something to be studied in the rigidity of the classroom. Poetry can be the voice of a generation, and Veatch stands at the center stage of this cultural open mic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As FHSU\u2019s poet laureate, Veatch functions both as a representative, resident artist, and outreach coordinator. Veatch has a broad scope in mind for her tenure as poet laureate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy goal is to do online events to reach people outside of Kansas,\u201d she said).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Hays has an active poetic subculture, Veatch is more ambitious than mere underground currents. She imagines and details large-scale poetry-themed events. Prior poet laureates hosted events such as \u2018black-out poetry\u2019 where novices took pages of unused books and blotted out all but a few words with a black marker, resulting in a brand new poem. These dreams are as exciting as they are nerve-wracking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrying to come up with events, and trying not to be disappointed. I want large events, but I can\u2019t let myself get discouraged if there is a low turnout,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The poetic pulse of Hays, is alive and beating, but Veatch wants more than anything to strengthen it into a resounding aspect of our community. Until then, she said she will be working with Chalfant to publish her next book <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c3am Notes\u201d is an apt title for Veatch\u2019s first published poetry collection, as Veatch\u2019s journey began on a sleepless night five years ago. From \u201ca girl who is a little too sad and loves the moon a little too much.\u201d (3am Notes Amazon Storefront<\/a>) comes a poignant translation of her inner thoughts transposed to paper. Her works touch upon topics such as love, emotional strife, and life through the lens of girlhood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cSo, I let myself close my eyes and\/Mourn for the person I should have been.\/I screamed with the thunder.\/The kind of scream that makes your\/Gut squeeze and hands clench.\/Suddenly, July days turned to October nights.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n(\u201cThe song of October\u201d, Veatch).\u00a0<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In putting pen to paper, she found a creative outlet and a talent that would pave the way for where she is today. Insomnia drove her to pick up the pen, but the thrill of challenges and contests spurred her forward. It was one such challenge that earned Veatch her first book publication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe deal was, \u2018if you can write 21 poems in 21 days, then we\u2019ll publish you,\u2019\u201d Veatch said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though inspired by the likes of Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, Veatch also hopes to inspire poets today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[Poetry] doesn\u2019t have to be as strict as school teaches it. It can be whatever you want it to be,\u201d she said. \u201cJust. Write. Don\u2019t worry about what others think about it, just write.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veatch, above all else, works to promote poetry and poets as a whole. She advises any fledgling poets with the hopes of spreading their wings to utilze the variety of opportunities Hays offers. The Hays Public Library hosts an annual contest, and the Art Walk occasionally displays poetry alongside other creative expressions. Hays\u2014and Kansas at large\u2014is alive with the creative heartbeat of writers, thrumming just beneath the surface. Poetry is just as relevant as ever, and Eileen Veatch works as the poet laureate to exhume that beating heart, drawing it out from the dark of insomnia-ridden nights and into the light to be appreciated for the art that it is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By AIDA REYNOLDS Tiger Media Network \u201cLet my pen write veins on paper,And let my heart beat out bloodI\u2019m gutting myself with this pen.Could you… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":82201,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":false,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[56,3398,11],"tags":[15763,15903,14110,5724],"class_list":["post-82200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-campus-news","category-news","tag-adia-reynolds","tag-eileen-veatch","tag-fhsu-poet-laureate","tag-poet-laureate"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Poet_Portrait-e1728585350870.jpg?fit=1656%2C1586","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=82200"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82203,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82200\/revisions\/82203"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/82201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=82200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=82200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=82200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}