Avra Bossov is a senior in GW’s School of Media and Public Affairs, majoring in Political Communications with minors in Sustainability and Mind-Brain Studies. In addition to her past involvement with House Staff, APO, and Alternative Breaks, Avra currently serves as the Executive Vice President of GW’s Student Association. In honor of National Poetry Month, Avra recited e.e. cummings’ “[i carry your heart with me (i carry it in]” and responded to some of our questions about poetry.
The Recitation
The Interview
interviewed by Sarah Costello, Kenny Hoffman, and Jasmine Baker.
Avra: I chose this e. e. cummings’ poem because it has always been one of those poems that you just go back to and read over and over and you still find certain lines beautiful.
Poets: How does poetry play a part in your everyday life?
Avra: That’s an interesting question because sometimes I actually think in poetic phrases! When I was a kid I used to carry around a journal and would just journal all the time and write poetry and everything, but then I got busy and everything like that. But this year, because of everything going on in my life, with the uncertainty of the future, I have taken to journaling again. So poetry, I would say, plays an interesting role in my life.
Poets: Why do you think the arts are important?
Avra: I think the arts are important because in our society in general we don’t necessarily express ourselves all the time, and it’s just important to reflect and be able to express yourself in a lot of different ways – not necessarily in words, although you could in poetry, but also in music and acting and dancing and other artsy things. But I think it’s important to always take some time to really think about your life experience and take the time to put your life experience in a different form for other people to see, too.
GW English professor Alexa Alice Joubin was named the inaugural recipient of the bell hooks Legacy Award on April 7, 2023. The Popular Culture Association and American Culture Association (PCA / ACA) established the award to commemorate the late feminist writer and activist bell hooks (1952-2021) who has authored more than 30 books. Alexa Alice Joubin…
Professor Margaret Soltan is among those interviewed in today’s GW Hatchet, on the topic of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses): “GW is on the verge of joining an online education revolution, following in the footsteps of elite universities that have over the past year launched hundreds of free online classes – open to anyone with…
JMM Writer-in-Washington Kseniya Melnik Photo Credit: Morgan Demeter The Jenny McKean Moore Fund was established in honor of the late Jenny Moore, who was a playwrighting student at GW and who left in trust a fund that has, for almost forty years, encouraged the teaching and study of Creative Writing in the English Department, allowing us to…
Nirmala Menon GW PhD, 2008 “YOU NEVER QUITE GROW UP FROM WANTING TO CHANGE THE WORLD” – Nirmala Menon talks about her career, and about GW After she earned her PhD from GW’s English department, Nirmala Menon took an Assistant Professor position at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. Four years later, she decided to…
By GW Student Reporter There was a tempest of sorts happening outside as I rushed over puddles and clumps of wet leaves to catch one of newly-arrived Alexa Alice Joubin’s courses entitled “Global Shakespeare.” The course title could easily be describing Alexa herself, a native of Taiwan, who first encountered a performance of the Bard’s…
Beacon Press has just published a new book by Associate Professor of English Gayle Wald: Shout, Sister, Shout! The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Professor Wald teaches courses on African American literature, popular music, and U.S. culture in the department. Her previous book Crossing the Line: Racial Passing in 20th -Century U.S….