Jake’s House

Jake’s House

There was a man whose name was Jake
Who had a house upon the lake
Every morning he would wake
And for breakfast have a piece of cake

He had a private fishing hole;
He always used a long cane pole
He fried his fish on red hot coal
And served it in a great big bowl

For a pet, he had a cat

Wolcott High

12

Trail of Tears

A million tear drops to be found
Falling empty to the ground
Forced to leave the rivers, forest, freedom and their homes
And nature speaks thru them all alone
but makes no sound
Their steps are no where to be found
Oh their sadden souls
That nobody else would come to know
Just their lost shadows
Who knew would come to grow
Maybe their melodies would echo their goodbyes
But you can still hear their soulful cries

David Crockett High School

9th

Sure

Sure, like the wind is sure
when it blows a little breeze.
Sure, like the sun is when
it shines down upon us.
Sure, like an architect is sure
when he looks at blueprints.
Sure, like a mother bear is sure
that her kids are safe.
Sure, like when the universe was sure
it could support life on some planet, somewhere out there.
How can we be sure, but still be uncertain?

Baldwin

5th

2017 The Interviews

This year I had the honor of being among some of the most talented young creative writers in Austin. Young people of all ages crowded a banquet room brimming with beautiful floral bouquets, dressed tables, and a mini red carpet just for them. Vision + Voice has had an impressive 4 year run and as the years go by the number of student poetry writers increases and amazes. I had a chat with several of these young writers and couldn’t help but fawn over the mix of adorable and well thought out interview answers, many of which impressed me. Continue reading “2017 The Interviews”

2017 Award Reception Video

Want to re-live the Vision+Voice Award Reception? Here’s your chance!
This is the live-stream video that ACC broadcast during the event on April 28. Please feel free to download and share this video.

Sorry, you’ll have to provide your own snacks to enjoy while viewing this. We couldn’t figure out a way to include a link to the great food that was at the event.

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The night you’ve been waiting for

Hello, Vision+Voice fans and families!

Here’s some information so you know what to expect at tonight’s Award Reception.

Our overall goal is to make the Vision+Voice honorees feel like rock-stars at the award reception. We want the students to see themselves as artists whose expression of self is important to the world.

We will have a great buffet of tapas-style food catered by students in ACC’s Hospitality Program. There will be a red-carpet with paparazzi, film crews will be documenting and live-streaming, and we have a writer who will be interviewing students and parents to capture info that she’ll use for an article about V+V. What a night!

Vision+Voice honorees will each get a goody bag with special treats — including the 2017 Vision+Voice Anthology and a certificate of achievement. And we have lots of posters to give away.

The program will feature speakers from ACC and AISD, and will include the videos of the students reading their poems. Our Master of Ceremonies is an award-winning poet and educator who is coming all the way from New Orleans for this event.

Please bring your friends and family to enjoy the festivities.

Doors open at 6:30pm, the program starts at 7pm.
Location: ACC Eastview Campus, 3401 Webberville Road, Room 8500
Park in any student or faculty spot in Lot G or Lot E
And, as if that’s not enough, we’ve added a feature to our website: You can now subscribe to get all the latest news and updates from the Vision+Voice team!
I hope you’ll give us feedback on Vision+Voice. We’re always looking for ways to make it better and more meaningful for your students.
See you soon!
The Vision+Voice Team

Vision+Voice Award Reception Master of Ceremonies

We are thrilled to announce that our Master of Ceremonies for this year’s Award Reception is Brad Richard, chair of the creative writing program at Lusher Charter School in New Orleans.

“As a poet, a teacher, and an advocate for young writers, I’m delighted to be part of this celebration of these poets,” says Richard. “There are few things I love more than seeing young people get recognition for extraordinary creative work, so I can’t wait to join in the applause!”

2015 Louisiana Artist of the Year, and poetry winner in the 2002 Poets & Writers Writers Exchange competition, Brad is the author of three collections of poems, Habitations, Motion Studies (winner of the 2010 Washington Prize) and Butcher’s Sugar, and two chapbooks, The Men in the Dark and Curtain Optional. His poems and reviews have appeared in Gettysburg Review, Okey-Panky, Unlikely Stories, Guernica, American Letters & Commentary, and other journals. Mr. Richard is co-director of the southeast Louisiana affiliate of the Scholastic Writing Awards and of The New Orleans New Writers Literary Festival. He is a recipient of fellowships from the Surdna Foundation, the Louisiana Division of the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Vision+Voice Award Reception will be held on Friday, April 28th from 6:30-8:30pm at Austin Community College’s Eastview Campus (3401 Webberville Road).
Please join us!