From Camp to Campus

Ben Annan was just 11 years old when he first attended Furious Flower’s Children’s Creativity Camp. The camp was a weeklong summer program for children in primary and secondary school that created a safe space for children and helped introduce them to poetry. Ben grew up around the valley alongside his mother working as a professor at JMU. He recalls an experience filled with lots of exploration and an energy of sharing between the campers, “There was this energy there, of just experimentation. To just start writing and not worry about if it’s good or bad, just go for it”.  

Ben was captivated at that camp, and his interest blossomed not just in poetry, but in creative writing morebroadly. The Children’s Creativity Camp allowed him to discover that he could write poetry, and it could have impact. Now a transfer student from Blue Ridge Community College, Ben is a History student at JMU.  

In November of last year, Ben reconnected with the Furious Flower Poetry Center at the First Friday Broadside Reception and open mic for their November exhibit, History Repeating Repeating, an event he learned about during a visit to the Center for Multicultural Student Services. The Broadside Gallery exhibit History Repeating Repeating emphasized the cyclical nature of human history and urged viewers to consider their own actions in this collective narrative. A history lover, Ben found that it was a great example of exactly why poetry is so important in the contextualization of life. 

Now that Ben has been immersed in academic life at JMU for almost two semesters, his writing life has expanded, both academically and personally. The “just go for it,” energy from the camp lingers and aids him in his approach to writing, allowing him to work freely. Though Ben does not consider himself a poet he proudly labels himself a “believer in lifelong writing, especially poetry,” and he still uses poetry as a tool to strengthen his intellect. The freedom given by writing poetry has encouraged Ben to experiment in other written genres. Currently, he is writing a play for The Scouts, one of the largest creative writing projects he has worked on to date.  

Balancing an academic life, project workload, and personal creative works can be difficult, but Ben has found that he works best when surrounding himself with the people close to him. This creates an open environment to talk about ideas and stimulates a creative outlet. Ben’s time around creative writing and poetry has shown him different perspectives and given him new ways to interpret his history courses, “Poetry portrays something that not a lot of writing can, and it gives an emotional sense of a period— it lets me be a better person”.   

Ben’s early experience at the Furious Flower Children’s Creativity Camp sparked an appreciation of writing that he continues to carry with him. He is a staunch advocate of channeling one’s emotions onto paper, “It is something so uniquely human, and we have to practice it”.  

Although The Furious Flower Poetry Center’s Children’s Camp is currently on hiatus, the Center still provides plenty of opportunities for students, faculty, and the Harrisonburg community interested in exploring the world of poetry. This April, National Poetry Month the Center’s offerings include a creative writing workshop series led by Furious Flower Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Gbenga Adesina and a “Hike and Write” workshop led by Program Manager Jazmin Witherspoon. Readers can also attend a poetry reading featuring literary activist and Fulbright Scholar Kadija George Sesay towards the end of the month.   

Ben Annan’s experience with Furious Flower programming is proof that the legacy- building work of celebrating Black poetry can have a positive impact on everyone, regardless of their background, education, or age. To learn more about Furious Flower’s upcoming events, visit their webpage and be sure to sign up for their newsletter.