Proud to Celebrate EVERYBODY'S VAGUELY FAMILIAR by Jack Powers, @cwpfairfield @writingproject @FairfieldU

Jack Powers photographing the audience (so he has proof)

In 2011, my first year at CWP, I was introduced to Joel Barlow High School teacher, Jack Powers, a writing project powerhouse, brilliant poet, and phenomenal human being. That summer, Jack did a demonstration for teachers that was one of the most fantastic workshops I've ever experienced. Since then, I've witnessed him doing variations of the workshop with middle and high school youth, writers, and teachers, and it continues to be successful.

In my professional work, too, I've benefited from his school's annual portfolio assessment where he leads CT teachers with humor, a passion for effective practices for teaching writing, and a wisdom that arrives from years in the classroom, reading, and taking on leadership roles.

This Sunday, Jack Powers debuted Everybody's Vaguely Familiar, a collection of poetry which includes several poems that have been published in venues like 2River View, Southern Poetry Review, Poetry Quarterly, The Southern Review and many more.

It was also an honor to bring Ubuntu Academy graduate and Fairfield University freshman, Akbar Niyonkuru - a poet, himself - to the brilliance of Jack Power's reading. Even before his talk began, I reflected on my admiration of Jack's teaching and writerly wisdom. I've read some of the poetry he's published in national reviews and every time I've said, "How does he do it?" Every poem is a gift - with a touch of the everyday, a deep knowledge of how language works, a whimsical commentary on the human condition, and a craft for making the reader feel vulnerable, genuine, observant, and alive.

Jack Powers and Akabru Niyonkuru

The audience was filled with scholars, teachers, writing buddies, family, friends, community members, and the CWP family (Jack Power's family is much larger that the writing project alone).

For the last 33 years, Jack Powers has been part of a CWP writing group that was created during a summer institute (many years before I arrived to the Fairfield site). He is the best of the National Writing Project work: Teachers who write. Writers who teach. And educators mesmerized by the power of language.

Everybody's Vaguely Familiar is his first book, 63 pages of poems that everyone should experience. It is a testimony to his career.  I'm a better NWP-site director because of this man.

I don't have the authority to publish his poems here, but I'd like to highlight a few reasons why Jack Powers is a national treasure. My favorite poem remains "At the Museum of Medical Oddities," in which he reflects on family vacations, Siamese twins, tumors, and the strangeness of our voyeuristic tendencies. Another poem from the collection that caught my attention was "How to Write a College Essay," in which he included lines like, "Make the reader see the veins in her neck, feel the words strike, the door slam. See you in the garage smoking by the turpentine; see the garage ignite" (p. 27).

Jack Powers maintains his humor with "Being a Dick" and "Holy Shitballs," but also harvests a harsh sadness and commentary with poems like "Rob Smuniewski is Dead" and "The God of Stupidity."

My conclusion, which isn't nearly as good as Jack Powers' collection, is that generations of middle and high school youth have benefited from this writing teacher who has shared laughter, wit and linguistic gifts with his students. I'm hoping this is not the last collection of poetry, either. He is too talented not to give us more.

Everybody's Vaguely Familiar is published by Golden Antelope' and is available on their website and on Amazon. There's a reason that this writer, this teacher, this member of the National Writing Project family, is an award-winning writer. He's an inspiration to teacher leaders across the nation.

Jack Powers keeps me in awe.