The World Through a Poet’s Eyes: Upper School Writer’s Symposium Hosts Bill Carty

When you look at a piece of art, what do you see? Where does it take you? And what does it inspire you to write about? 

These are some of the questions PNW poet Bill Carty likes to consider. As the Upper School Writer’s Symposium guest this spring, Carty encouraged students to get inspired by visual art, using paintings as a tool to jumpstart their poetry writing. 

In the award-winning poet’s workshop, students began by describing basic things they observed in art pieces, like sensory details and emotions. Then, he prompted them to expand and “write off” the subject of the painting.  As in, they used art as a jumping-off point to access the creativity and inspiration that lies below the surface. 

Carty believes in taking “any chance for reflection.” When students get the opportunity to sit quietly and thoughtfully, it opens the door to deeper, more meditative thinking that lends itself to curiosity, innovation, and artistry.

In his presentation to the entire Upper School, Carty took students through another poetry exercise. Students paired up and without looking at each other’s paper, they each wrote down a question. After folding down the sheet so the other couldn’t see the question, they traded papers and wrote down a noun as an “answer.” After several rounds, they unfolded the paper to find delightfully silly (and surprisingly revelatory) results: 

“What is your favorite texture?” 

“Chocolate chip cookies.” 

“How can I be nicer to my friends?”

“Sunflowers.”

As you can tell, by the end of the Symposium, students had followed the threads of creativity to some pretty unexpected places!

Carty, who teaches at the UW Robinson Center for Young Scholars, Edmonds College, and Hugo House, loves that writing connects people across subjects and differences. “When you write, you can feel alone, but it easily becomes social. Writing also gives you the chance to explore all your interests.” 

No matter the field our students choose to enter, their writing skills will make a difference! And in a world that moves fast, they’re learning to slow down and interact with it more carefully and thoughtfully.