The Foxcroft Poetry Festival, in its second year as the "Paul K. Bergan Poetry Festival," was a rousing success on this very, very cold weekend. Poets, students, parents, faculty, board members, and administration alike enjoyed the vocal stylings of the slam in addition to the more formal readings from around the world.

On Friday night, DJ Renegade (also known as Joel Dias Porter) kicked off the festival with a moving and exciting reading of his original work. In his third appearance at Foxcroft's Poetry Festival, he entranced and energized the audience with his musical riffs and thoughtful love poems as well as his sense of humor.

A national Haiku champion, he also served as the MC for the student poetry slam, a hotly-contested competition among 11 student poets. Joined by the San Francisco Girls' Chorus -- which came to town to perform at the Presidential Inauguration and at Foxcroft -- the School community audience enthusiastically booed and cheered the teenage judges and wholeheartedly supported each and every brave girl who participated.

After two rounds, the winners were named in a senior sweep: Kayleigh Moehrle of Frederick, MD, in third place, Korama Danquah of Los Angeles in second (the only contestant to receive a standing ovation!), and defending champion Olivia Means of Washington, DC, once again in the coveted title, and a prize of $100.

On Saturday morning, the festival continued with a reading by Pulitzer Prize-winner and Virginia Poet Laureate Claudia Emerson. Emerson shared both personal poems from her prize-winning collection Late Wife and poems of the imagination from her most recent book, Figure Studies. The latter includes a sequence set at a girls' boarding school, Emerson having attended and worked at several, and resonated especially with the Foxcroft audience. Her quiet demeanor and vivid imagery captivated listeners.

Emerson and DJ served as the judges for the afternoon competitive readings, a venue that celebrates the reading presence of many of our students. The finalist, three in each grade level, had been chosen by their peers and certified by faculty judges to earn a place on Saturday's program. Senior Carly Travell of Middleburg won the top level, English 401 – her fourth victory in as many years, with a reading of Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird by Wallace Stevens. Junior Chandler Carter of Ft. Washington, MD; earned English 301 laurels with a Maya Angelou poem. Jae Yeon Ham of Korea read a piece by Suji Kwock Kim to take English 201 honors and Kim Kluwe, a freshman from Seal Beach, CA, won the English 101 competition with Walt Whitman's O Captain, My Captain.