NEWBURYPORT — Ever dreamed of a personalized piece of poetry? Newburyport High School's Creative Writing class is providing the opportunity.
The class, taught by Deborah Szabo, will be selling poems to raise money for the Pettengill House this holiday season. Customers need only to pick up an order form at the Newburyport Public Library, the Newburyport High School Web site, Jabberwocky Bookstore, or the Book Rack, and select a style and theme for their piece.
People can also choose a tone and up to three words they wish to be included. Students in Szabo's class will then create a piece of literature, ranging from a rap to a sonnet to a short story.
Prices range include three haikus for $5 to $5 for one longer piece. The deadline to purchase a poem has been extended to Jan. 10.
The project was born out of a brainstorming session about how to raise money.
"Somebody proposed making, then selling, doughnuts," said senior Rob Stables, a student who spearheaded the effort. "Then somebody said we should sell 'Doom-Filled Doughnuts,' much to everybody's amusement."
When the laughter died down, the idea of selling poetry surfaced, and Poems for Pettengill was created.
Sophomore Becca Young is looking forward to the project.
"Everyone has a job — contacting the newspaper, putting up fliers, talking to Mr. Parent ... but the fact that the whole class is doing it is making us excited," she said.
Stables shares similar sentiments.
"This gives me and my classmates (an opportunity) to sharpen our creative claws and give back to our community," he said.
While students are excited for the project to take off, they also feel an artistic pressure to perform well.
"It is always a bit tense, having other people read your writing because you don't know what they'll think of it," Stables said. "I like to think of writing as a risk. If you don't take it, you won't know what could have been."
The deadline for holiday-themed poems is Jan. 10, but Szabo and her class will extend the project for as long as they can raise money.
"We'd like to sell poems next semester at the Newburyport Literary Festival," she said. "But this is something unusual to give this holiday season."
For a Poems for Pettengill order form, visit http://www.newburyport.k12.ma.us/high/Sites/ PoetrySoup/PoemsforPettengill.pdf or the Newburyport Public Library, Jabberwocky Bookstore, or the Book Rack.
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