Tickner Writing Fellow Arnisha Royston opened Upper School assembly on Friday, November 15 by sharing her reason for wanting to facilitate the A. J. Downs Writers at Work Series: “I believe writers write out of necessity — to share with the world the way they see it.” She encouraged students to find their own way — through writing or something else — to share their perspectives, too.

Royston introduced the first visiting writer of the school year, poet Blas Falconer, who read several poems from his latest book of poetry, “Rara Avis,” to the group. His writing touched on themes of fatherhood, both from the perspective as a father and a son.

“A poem can be like a bubble, a space that we all enter into,” he said. “First Spell” was the first poem he read, which describes the process of blowing bubbles. “When a bubble floats to the ground, it means something is about to break”

Another poem, “Long Gone,” he said, shows a more authentic display of fatherhood, focusing on a car ride with his two sons who are fighting as he loses patience with them.

Falconer also writes about art and told the boys that the secret of identifying subject matter for writing is to “find anything that will engage your attention long enough for the subconscious mind to reveal itself.”

Some of his work is deeply personal, like one poem that talks about his adopted son wanting to know about his biological father. Some of his work is heavy, like another poem that recounts an experience standing in line at an amusement park behind a man with a swastika tattoo.

After the readings, Falconer took questions from the group. A senior asked how the lens of poetry changes his view of life. A sophomore wanted to know how Falconer developed his writing style. A junior asked about other forms of art that the speaker likes to create and consume. Royston asked the final question, “Why do you believe you write?” Falconer gravitated to writing from an early age, he said. “As a young person, the world was always telling me what to think, what to believe. I sensed the adults were wrong but I didn’t have the confidence to explore what I believed.” He went on to say that when he “turned to the page,” he was able to gain a better understanding.

Learn more about Blas Falconer