In this sound portrait, Fareena Arefeen talks about her writing process and how her cultural heritage inspires her, and she reads a poem modeled after another poem by one of her favorite poets, Ocean Vuong.
Fareena Arefeen is a student at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) and a first-generation American. In November 2016, she was chosen as Houston’s Youth Poet Laureate from a pool of dozens of talented local teens. Houston’s Youth Poet Laureate is an initiative led by WITS, the City of Houston and the Houston Public Library. The position was designed to help young teens foster creative growth in our diverse and unique city.
This poem was previously published in Writers in the Schools Youth Advisory Council’s “Flood Zone Zine” and is reprinted with permission by the author.
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