by Mel Wells
After hosting the Verselandia! Slam Poetry Championship the night before, slam poet Anis Mojgani visited Wilson High School to talk with about fifty students who had read from his books and watched videos of his slam performances online. Mojgani began by performing his award-winning poem “Come Closer.”
The students were enthralled by his performance, and they spent the rest of the hour peppering Mojgani with questions about his work and life as an artist. When one of the students asked whether he was “fully employed by his poetry,” Mojgani smiled and said, “Yes, and I like how you put that: I am fully employed by my poetry.”
Mojgani currently lives in Austin, Texas, but resided in Portland for six years and taught for WITS at that time. He will be reading at Powell’s Books on Hawthorne on Monday, May 6 at 7:30 pm. We highly recommend seeing him!
