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The Wick Poetry Center welcomed poet, playwright and activist Sonia Sanchez to the May Prentice House for a meet and greet with students on Sept. 18. She met with them in the afternoon before giving a lecture in the Kiva in the evening. The Kent State Honors College, the Cleveland Foundation and the Wick Poetry Center cosponsored Sanchez's visit to Kent State. 
 

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“One of the things I love so much about students is their willingness to dare to do things that people tell them not to do,” Sanchez said.
 
Sanchez said she was happy to be in the Wick Poetry Center, a place, she said, where poetry lives. She also called Kent a beautiful place where people have made change. She wants students to know their courage is noticed.
 
Students voiced their surprise and awe after listening to Sanchez speak. She shared her perspectives on widely ignored historical events as well as important moments in her life, her experiences and her impact. She discussed how poetry changed her life and how it has changed other lives.
 
She also shared her first experiences with poetry, like her first workshops and first publications. She admitted to always worrying whether or not she had “talent.”
 
Before leaving the May Prentice House to prepare for her lecture in the Kiva later that evening, she gave the poets a bit of advice.
 
“Read every poet’s poetry whether you like them or not,” she said. “What can you learn from them?”