As the host of the 2007 Greater Boston Intercollegiate Poetry Festival, Boston College gathered an eclectic group of students, faculty, and supporters in the Murray Function Room in Yawkey Athletic Center on April 18. One poet from each of 19 area schools arrived with a faculty mentor to share his or her own creative work and to witness the diverse poetic talent of others.
The event commenced at 7:30 p.m. with a welcome message from BC professor Suzanne Matson of the English department, the chief organizer of the evening. She briefly explained the history of the festival in the Boston area and expressed her hopes for its continuation in the future.
Since 1987, the Greater Boston Intercollegiate Poetry Festival has been celebrated annually, though it took a hiatus in 2001 before re-emerging on the BC campus in last year.
The festival, recently restored to life, will continue to be held at BC in the future. Helping to make that possible, the English department, the Office of the Provost, and Boston College Magazine all sponsored the affair in order to supply the venue and refreshments and to generate publicity.
Although the festival features a variety of schools every year, the majority of the participating universities are recurring contributors. Familiar neighbors such as Boston University, Northeastern University, and Harvard were present; however, students from the University of Massachusetts-Boston, UMass-Lowell, Salem State College, Wheaton College, and others also attended the event.
In her introduction, Matson said, "This gathering of voices celebrates not only what is distinctively individual about each offering, but also what we have in common as poets and lovers of poetry."
The return of the festival in 2006 included two significant advancements from previous years: A chapbook, or short collection of poetry, with one work from each student was provided, and a keynote speaker was invited to preface the students' readings.
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