Poetry event to honor Maya Angelou

A general feeling about poetry is that you either get it or you don’t.

You can appreciate Emily Dickinson or Shakespeare, or it goes right over your head.

But at Sunday’s Border Voices Poetry Fair, a festival that celebrates the written word, the goal is to make poetry interesting and accessible for everyone. It will also honor the memory of poet Maya Angelou, a past Border Voices speaker who died Wednesday.

“When you get poetry, it’s an alternative way of getting in touch fully with yourself and the world around you,” explained Jack Webb, local poet and the founder of Border Voices.

At the 21st annual event, held this year at the San Diego Central Library, there will be poetry readings by modern, entertaining writers Brendan Constantine, Jackleen Holton, Seretta Martin, Celia Sigmon and Veronica Cunningham.

Constantine is the author of various poetry books, including “Birthday Girl With Possum,” and the others are published poets who also teach in local schools.

Thanks to the Border Voices Poetry Project, poet-teachers go to schools — from Morse High to Grant Elementary — and work with students on how to express themselves through language.

“Poetry, if taught correctly, wakes your brain up and your soul,” said Webb, who added that the main focus of Border Voices is to showcase the work of students from San Diego and Tijuana elementary, middle and high schools.

Throughout the school year, students and poet-teachers have been crafting poems, writing multiple drafts and working on everything from finding a voice to using descriptive language.

The poems were then judged and put in an anthology; this year’s book is “River of Memories, Songs From a Brighter World.” And at the Border Voices Poetry Fair, the top four winners from both the upper and lower divisions are scheduled to read their work to the public.

There will also be an open-mic featuring students who participated in the Border Voices program and a short film featuring past Border Voices guests such as Maya Angelou and Billy Collins.

Don’t worry, non-poetry fans: It’s not all about books and words.

The event will also have a clown, free face-painting and balloon animals. If you’re looking for a bounce house or carnival rides, however, you’ll just have to write a poem about one.