Slam Poet Inspires Two Stonehill Students

By Katherine Landergan
For slam poet George Watsky, nothing is off limits. He will talk about his lisp, his inability to find love, or that time he drunk texted God.

Watsky, a senior at Emerson College, has performed in New York City, at the Kennedy Center in Australia, and on the Fox Network. And last Tuesday, he inspired poets at the St. Patrick’s themed Concert Coffeehouse.

“I can’t believe I performed in the same room, on the same stage as him,” said Kalee Burrows, a freshman, who performed her poetry earlier that night.

Watsky said he tends to write about politics, his weaknesses, and what it was like to grow up in a multifaith household. He describes himself as a “seriocomic” poet, and said his goal as a performer is to make the audience feel a range of emotion.

“I want to make people laugh and I want to make them cry,” he said.

Watsky is currently studying in Los Angeles, and will graduate from Emerson College in May with a double major in acting and screenwriting. He plans to tour with his poetry, enter in screenwriting competitions, and to continue working for Youth Speaks, a nonprofit group that promotes the arts in schools. He also just released a hip hop album, now available on iTunes.

Burrows, a theatre major and avid Watsky fan, said she loves watching clips of his performances on YouTube. Her other top inspirations include Margaret Atwood and Langston Hughes.

Burrows, from Brookfield, N.H., said she started writing poetry by studying other poets.

“I would watch slam poets online, and emulate what they did,” Burrows said. “Then I began to find my own voice.”

Burrows’ work ranges from politically charged pieces to poems about her day to day problems. She read four original works at Concert Coffeehouse, including a piece about the environment, entitled “Like Gandhi said, Be the Change.” Burrows said she was inspired to write the poem after seeing Lindsey Mac, a singer and environmental activist, perform at Concert Coffeehouse earlier this year.

“When writing the poem, I asked myself the question, ‘what if Mother Nature was real?’” Burrows said. “Would I apologize to her for our wrongdoings?”

Rex Macapinlac, a freshman, who also performed his poetry at Tuesday’s Coffeehouse, said he admires Watsky for incorporating politics into his poetry. He has studied clips of Watsky online, and tries to incorporate Watsky’s theatrical style into his own performances.

“Anyone who is honest to the crowd, that’s what I admire,” said Macapinlac, a communications major from Hyannis, Mass.

Macapinlac, who idolizes Shel Silverstein and Tupac, said he has been writing rap songs since the sixth grade. This past fall, he decided to alter some of his raps and perform them as poems at Concert Coffeehouse. He is also currently working on a hip hop demo, and describes his sound as a mesh of Kanye West, Coldplay, and Prince.

“The key to success is to be universal in your poetry,” Macapinlac said. “That’s what I aim for.”