Alpha Mu Gamma hosts International Poetry Reading

Students and staff were treated to a taste of literature from several countries at Alpha Mu Gamma’s 15th annual International Poetry Reading in the Alexander Room, where students could read a foreign language poem of their choice. 

A total of 21 poems were read in a variety of languages in honor of National Foreign Language Week, including Spanish, French, German, Greek, and Portuguese, and audience members followed along with them.

Beatriz Gomez-Acuña, professor of Spanish, noted that this year two students sang instead of reading. 

“We didn’t plan it that way but Mateo started singing at the event and then Sofia ended with a song, so it was a full circle kind of moment,” Gomez-Acuña said.

Gomez-Acuña also remarked that one student was moved to tears because she read a poem in which the author of the poem expressed gratitude for their parents, and the student realized they received that same unconditional love. 

Another student read a children’s poem that her mother had read to her, and Gomez-Acuña commented that it was nice that she shared that experience with everyone. 

Senior Lizbeth Fraire, an Alpha Mu Gamma member, chose to read a poem this year (“La vida a veces” by Jaime Gil De Biedma) because she was free at the time of the reading and didn’t get the chance to do it last semester. 

“I picked a poem about life in Spanish, so I thought it would be pretty neat to read it out loud,” Fraire said. “I’ve never read a poem out loud to people. I’ve only ever read poems at school assignment-wise, but I wanted to see how it felt.”

Sophomore Minh Ho participated in the poetry reading last year and found his interaction with professors and Alpha Mu Gamma useful, so he came to the event this year to watch and learn. 

“I hope to learn more about different poetries and a different version of the other countries and also gain more connections with professors and also people,” Ho said.