Southwest Minnesota State University

SMSU Student’s Poem to be Read on NPR

Published Wednesday, March 14, 2012

SMSU Student’s Poem to be Read on NPR

Southwest Minnesota State University junior Nick White will have one of his poems read on National Public Radio.

White, a Minneapolis native, recently won a Poetry Slam competition at the annual Writers and Writing Programs National Conference in Chicago, Ill. The following night he was at another Poetry Slam event as a judge, and was asked to perform one of his poems from the previous night.

In the audience was a representative from National Public Radio, who later taped White reading a poem about his mother’s battle with alcoholism. “She said they’re booked through June for features, but they’re going to try and do it this summer, after June. They said they’d let me know,” said White, who has a creative writing major and a philosophy minor.

White has been writing poetry on and off since the eighth grade and attended his first Poetry Slam event as a college freshman. He describes it as “in some ways, hip-hop without the music.” He hosts Poetry Slam events every five or six weeks at the Daily Grind coffeehouse in Marshall.

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