Each year, students in the Twelfth Grade can elect to undertake a year-long action research project known as the Senior Project.. As an interdisciplinary capstone project which draws on all their capacities and from all corners of their education at SWS, the Senior Project is highly prized as a singular jewel in the crown of our Waldorf education and a way for students to demonstrate mastery, maturity, and readiness for school-leaving (as well as to graduate with Honors!). This years’ Senior Projects were no exception and perfectly displayed the unique talents, interests, and questions our Seniors are carrying out (very soon!) into the world.

Last week, in the waning days of National Poetry Month, Communications Director Andrew May was able to speak with one Senior, Isabella Amend, about her project and the process she went through to create and self-publish her first poetry collection, The Predicament of Being a Dandelion.

Did you know you wanted to write and publish a book of poetry going into the Senior Project? Is this something that you’d been wanting to do?

No, not really. It kind of evolved from a journal, and then I got really lazy, and my journal entries turned into two-sentence entries, and then from there they became poems.

So they became poetry—that’s interesting. Had you been, besides the poetry you have been studying and writing in school, reading poets, studying, looking at, discovering poets and poetry?

No, not even a little bit.

So did you find that [the poetry] you encountered in High School provided you with a sufficient impetus to start experimenting with language, like how to work with line breaks [nervous laughter]?

You’re the one who actually taught me about line breaks in poetry! That was my first experience [in Romantics] because I didn’t have the Poetics block in Tenth Grade, I was a late transfer to SWS. But we had Romantics in Eleventh Grade, and that was my only experience and has remained my only experience really studying poetry in school.

So what was your takeaway on line breaks?

Well, for me, when I write, it’s actually hard to decide [where to break a line]. I try and play with meaning when I break a line so that there might be a kind of double meaning thing going on. But oftentimes it’s really hard. And then I remember you [Mr. May] telling me that you had the same experience, that there is technique to it technically, but that most of the time you have to just try to feel into it. Kind of intuitive sometimes. You said to read it aloud and then kid of—where you pause naturally should be the break. And that’s what I’ve been doing.

Oh! So a lot of your poetry—sorry, I don’t have a copy of the book yet—at least at first, you’re composing it, writing it, and then you read it out loud and revise?

Yes; or at least that’s more or less my process. So if it’s a long line, and then you read it out loud and find where it breaks best. And you break it. It’s not quite a science!

No, not at all, but there is some technique there for sure. So you got going, you ended up journaling and then turning your writing into multiple pieces. When did you know, “Oh, I think this is going to be a book”?

So it was all handwritten, and so when I got the stack that was about [three inches high], I was like, “Well, I should probably do something with this at some point.” And then, around the same time, Dr. Gruhn [High School Science Teacher and Senior Project Coordinator] send out the email about starting our projects, and it kind of took off from there.

Very cool; I love when things line up like that. What was the hardest part about making your way through this?

Creating this physical book, being okay with other people reading it, realizing, “Oh, anyone can buy this on Amazon now. And that’s my name. And I wrote that and felt that. And now you get to feel that.”

Right—because it all kind of began as a journal, didn’t it? It’s all very, very personal, kind of like confessional poetry.

Yes, it’s all based on experiences with other people.

Oh wow—relationship poetry. That’s intense, that’s a lot! But also a great vehicle to process, that’s what art and creativity is for, I think.

Exactly. So you just take out names or take out pronouns and turn it into a different story for the reader to experience and connect with.

Photo of the profiled author (in the midst of another poetic revelation) courtesy of the author

So what are you happiest with? Or—I don’t want to say proud—but do you—well, what do you feel now? You look at this product that you’ve made and put out into the world, and it’s the result of a lot of work. What are you glad you were able to accomplish?

I wasn’t going to do [the book]. I remember being, well—I went on vacation with my mom, and being in Italy, and I was thinking, “I’m not doing it, I’m not publishing this, but I will talk about this for my Senior Project. I’m not going to publish it. So I think the hardest part was getting over the fact that, you know, if people think it’s weird, then people think it’s weird. It doesn’t really matter. You know, the people who matter won’t think that, and I know it’s great no matter what it is. Yeah. So I think that was the hardest part to be happy with, just getting over the initial fear that my name and my feelings and my soul are going to be available to purchase on Amazon for $13. So I think I had to get over that, definitely, but I’m glad I am.

Do you feel like this is the start of something for you?

I feel like it is. Using Kindle to self-publish makes it possible to go back and add pages to this so I can make it longer.

Wow! So this is your Leaves of Grass [by Walt Whitman]: all your life you’re going to be adding to this collection?

I mean———I could! Or I could do something completely new, but it was easier than I thought it would be. And I feel very accomplished doing it, so I probably will continue to write.

What poets inspired you to take on this project?

I don’t really know very many, honestly! I did read an interview with Whitney Hanson, she’s a poet as well. I had read a few of her poems and just thought about them for hours—like single lines. And that’s why I thought, “I could turn these two-line things into something. She could do it. I could do it.” In her interview, he said that she didn’t go to college to study poetry, that she went to college for business and didn’t finish her degree. A lot of people [who write and publish their poetry] don’t. And I was like, “Okay, I don’t have a degree or, you know, to be a super professional to put my words out there in any sort of way. So I’d say Witney Hanson inspired me during this project.

What’s the most surprising feedback or reaction you’ve received from this collection?

I know it was only just recently published, so it’s still fresh in the world. But I think some of the surprising stuff was when I was—I just had the manuscript, printed off of a Google Doc, and I was having teachers read it, and they would cry. Okay! Something’s going on here.

Yes! You’re moving people to catharsis! That’s one of the best things about artistic projects! I love that. So looking ahead, what advice might you give to Middle School students interested in writing, publishing, and taking their art seriously. Is there anything you’d want to offer to someone who is just beginning to ask these questions?

Well—one thing is, I think it helps a lot to have an actual pen and actual paper to scribble things out and, you know, draw bubbles, annotate as you revise, before actually typing any drafts. And also, it’s easier than you think to put your work out there. It’s not impossible. You don’t have to be some super professional writer to do that. So I guess I would say that anything is possible if you want to publish your work.

Good point. Actually, I’m curious as someone who technically publishes but doesn’t want to be published—why did you want to publish and not just write?

I felt like it was a healing thing for me, getting it out there and allowing other people to kind of—well, I processed [a lot of what I was feeling], so maybe it’ll help you process something, too. Which is why it was important for me to publish and share this with people.

Any last words on poetry, on this final day of National Poetry Month?

Poetry isn’t always what you think it is. Anything can hit someone deeply. It doesn’t necessarily mean whining! I feel like if a couple sentences can make you feel, then it’s poetry.

Isabella’s debut collection, , is currently available.