[ C O N T R I B U T O R S ]
Ryan Baird was born in Stamford, Connecticut on July 7th, 2000 and raised in nearby Darien. He is a graduate of Holmes Elementary and Middlesex Middle School and is just a few months away from graduating High School. He is the winner of the 2015 Poetry out loud competition for Mrs. Bosson’s sophomore english class. He is the author of zero poetry books but the future is bright for this young shakespeare. He is a loyal fan of the Rangers, Knicks and Jets and hopes to work in sports one day.
Articles by Ryan Baird:
Cat Bates was born in Stamford, Connecticut in 2000 and grew up in Darien. She is expected to graduate Darien High School in 2018. Although she has experimented with different styles of writing throughout her high school career such as essays, poetry, and narratives, her favorite is writing music in which she does almost everyday. She enjoys working with experienced musicians such as those in her extended family and coming up with new ideas for songs. She incorporates lyrical values while analyzing and writing poems often in her Issues in Contemporary Poetry class and enjoys the connection between the metaphors of poems and song lyrics. She looks forward to publishing more of her writing and learning about new writing styles in the future.
Articles by Cat Bates:
James Findley Batson was born in Stamford, Connecticut on August 3rd, 1999. Batson is called Fin by his family and friends while people who don’t know him call him Finn or once in awhile Phin. Fin has played various sports his entirely life but is much more than your average jock. His study abroad trip to China his sophomore year changed his perspective on the world as well as his interests and passions. A pizza lover, Fin takes pride in his ability to make his own, original pizza no matter what toppings is required. Fin has never been published but has had several comments from established English and History professors from the Darien High School district. Fin’s most recent literary works consist of “College Essay” and “Completely Subjective”. His favorite books Staying Fat For Sarah Byrnes and The Percy Jackson Series are both descriptive and plot twisting books that have helped form his writing as a high school student. Fin hopes to continue writing about his future travels and create the perfect pizza.
Articles by James Findley Batson:
Emily Bergwall was born in Stamford, CT on December 26, 1999 and was raised in Darien, CT. She graduated Middlesex Middle School in 2014 and is planning to graduate Darien High School in 2018. She has written various types of essays, her favorites being more abstract research pieces written in American Studies: “Women in Society: A Shift in Roles Over Time,” and “Social Darwinism: Interpreting the Flaws to This Idea.” She is currently taking “Issues in Contemporary Poetry” in school, and hopes to further expand her interests and improve upon this new writing style.
Articles by Emily Bergwall:
Christina Chalis was born in Norwalk, Connecticut and is currently a senior at Darien High School. She enjoys writing in her free time and hopes to make a profession out of it in the future. She also hopes to break her habit of oversleeping throughout the school year but the future looks bleak in that regard. Her favorite poems are “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe and “Love” by Martha Silano; she also enjoys a lot of classic poetry. Her true voice in writing has been stated as “embellished and thoughtful” by a close friend, but when she opens her mouth that sophisticated language is lost to the world.
Articles by Christina Chalis:
Kayin Chisolm was born in Stamford, Connecticut, on September 8, 2000. He spent his first five years living in Bridgeport Connecticut and spent a lot of his youth there even after he moved to Darien Connecticut. He has participated in a multitude of English courses that include but are not limited to: English 9, English 10, and American Literature. He has found a decent amount of success in each of those classes.
Articles by Kayin Chisolm:
Maeve Donoghue was born in Manhattan, New York, on May 11, 2000. She enjoys both reading and writing especially creative writing. Maeve has taken four English classes throughout her high school career including American literature in her junior year where she wrote essays on numerous books ranging from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. She is now taking Modern poetry for the first time and she has enjoyed it so far and had been introduced to many great poets like Billy Collins, John Ashbery and Alan Bernheimer. Some poems Maeve enjoys are the “Afterlife” and the “American Sonnet” by Billy Collins and “20 questions” by Alan Bernheimer.
Articles by Maeve Donoghue:
Grace Fay was born in Stamford, Connecticut, on December 1, 2000. She writes only for school, but she does enjoy it. She has written many essays, but not a lot of poetry. She started writing at a young age, and has not stopped since. She has written about herself, about wars, and about many other historical events. Some get good grades, and some get bad. She has definitely not won any awards or accomplishments, but she continues to write to due to the fact that she has to for school.
Articles by Grace Fay:
Lindsey Ferreira was born in New Rochelle, New York on April 8,2000 and has been raised in Darien, CT ever since. She does not read much as she is too busy. However, over the summer she had the opportunity to read many poetry books she found on Twitter. Lindsey does not mind writing as long as it’s not a long paper for school, as she has written many long papers only to get terrible grades. Lindsey’s best writing is found in her text with her subtle puns and her amazing sense of humor. She is still waiting for the day when one of those texts end up on BuzzFeed until then she has received no awards for writing. Lindsey has taken numerous English classes over the years and is now enrolled in the class “Issues in Contemporary Poetry” avoiding the nightmare that is “World Lit Seminar”. Lindsey hopes to learn more about modern poetry and write more personal pieces for others to enjoy.
Articles by Lindsey Ferreira:
Sigurd Glad was born in Oslo, Norway on June 20, 2000. He does not write anything outside school, but when he is in school, he enjoys what he does. He has written since he was young, mostly in Norwegian, about historical events, himself and to others. Some of his papers get’s good grades, other does not. Sigurd has not won any poetry awards or any other form of literature. He is now taking modern poetry for the first time in his life, learning about great poets, such as John Ashbery, Billy Collins and Anne Carson.
Articles by Sigurd Glad:
Peter Guttuso was born in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1999. After living there for 6 years, he and his family moved to Darien, Connecticut. Guttuso is currently attending Darien High School and is a senior who plans on graduating in june of 2018. He enjoys reading EPSN articles along with a various amount of other sports articles and occasionally likes to take quick skim through the daily paper. He’s published a variety of pieces of writing to the high school. Guttuso shined his freshmen year when partaking in the annual poetry out loud contest, but ended up not winning. In addition to his literary work, Guttuso plays for the Darien High School football team which has won back to back state championships and is currently ranked the number one team in the state of Connecticut. He is currently unsure what field he will study after his high school career but seems to have a bright future ahead of him.
Articles by Peter Gusttuso:
Jack Joyce was born in New York City on June 29th, 1999. He moved to Darien, Connecticut at a young age and has lived there ever since. Joyce has a passion for sports such as football and lacrosse,but to few people’s knowledge, has also been interested in writing over the years. He has written numerous analytical essays throughout his career and hopes to one day receive recognition for his works. He is currently enrolled in the class “Issues in Contemporary Poetry” where he hopes to gain a new understanding in writing, further excelling his career as a writer.
Articles by Jack Joyce:
Jonathan Kim was raised in Woodstock, NY. He attended Middle School in Milford, CT and recently moved to Darien, CT to finish his final year of High School. Expressing an interest in writing and the arts at an early age, Jonathan is an avid artist and writer. One of his first books he fell in love with was Charlotte’s Webb when he was in Kindergarten. He enjoys writing poems, stories, and drawing, especially in the middle of class. He wishes to study music in college, preferably in California.
Articles by Johnathan Kim:
Cara Malizia was born in Waterbury, CT on October 19t h , 2000. Malizia moved back and forth from Litchfield county to Fairfield County, where she currently is residing until she graduates Darien High School in June of 2018. Malizia works at the Darien YMCA as a special needs aide and second grade after school teacher, and spends her free time mostly hanging out with her friends or listening to music. She enjoys to read and analyze poems, and does not have a preference when it comes to genre or style. She does not have much experience with writing, only the assignments she completed while in school as well as some poems she wrote for her own enjoyment, but hopes to be able to improve that this semester with the help of her Modern Poetry class.
Articles by Cara Maliza:
Jeremy Merrifield was born in Salt Lake City, Utah , in 1999. He is a very involved student within the arts. He does Honors art, Honors band, Honors choir and he does after school Theater. Right now he is in the play, Mr. Burns, a Post-electric Play and is enjoying his time. However, writing he never enjoyed and had struggled through his whole school career. Through his high school career he has done English 9, English 10, American Lit, and Issues In contemporary poetry. He has written about Birds, wars, himself, and many other strange things, and continues to write to expresses himself.
Articles by Jeremy Merrifield:
Brian Minicus was born on July 27, 1999 in the Greenwich Hospital to Mo and Kevin Minicus and currently lives in Darien, CT. Brian has three brothers, so naturally a competitive edge was adopted by Brian and has stuck with him ever since. Growing up, Brian has always liked writing and received an education from Ox Ridge, Middlesex, and the public high school in Darien. In his writing career, there are many noteworthy pieces of writing including I ssues in the Middle East, a final paper in 11th grade. He loves to write for fun, jot observations down, and record in his free time. This frequent writing explains his unique voice that he illustrates in his writing, poetry for certain. Brian is well in his writing prime and will continue to write and communicate through poetry.
Articles by Brian Minicus:
Marie Ostrand is a senior at Darien High School in Darien, Connecticut. She was born in
Wilton but has since moved many times before finally settling in Darien. She is new to poetry both writing and reading. She also takes interest in creative writing but doesn’t have a lot of free time to write or read. Instead she spends her time participating in various clubs, volunteering at community organizations, and spending time relaxing with friends. She is currently planning on going to college next year to study art history and communications but will also intends to incorporate some English classes.
Articles by Marie Ostrand:
Connor Sullivan was born in Greenwich Connecticut on November, 21, 1999. He is a young aspiring writer with an extensive history in essay writing. Sullivan has been raised in the small community of Darien, Connecticut. He lives with his mother and younger brother (16) Ryan Sullivan, a less talented, but also aspiring writer. Sullivan’s most profound work was developed around a year ago in an essay about Frederick Douglass, in his piece “Transcending Slavery” . Aside from his essay writing Sullivan also enjoys research papers one such paper titled, “ The Mindset of an Athlete ” which was written after doing extensive research on sports psychology and taking a course in general psychology. Outside of his writing he dabbles in sports such as table tennis and football, and also enjoys finger painting. Sullivan is 17 and hopefully has a long life and successful career ahead of him.
Articles by Connor Sullivan:
Sheena Zhou, born on January 5, is a senior at Darien High School and in the graduating class of 2018. She is interested in writing and reading poetry. She really enjoys poems that have deeper meanings or hidden puzzles to figure out, like a mystery. However, once in awhile, she would enjoy a nice, simple poem as well. Poems that she can connect to would stand out more to her than ones that don’t. “Its like having an invisible connection between the poem and yourself, you begin to know it better the more similarities you share and the more you understand each other” she says. Sheena has submitted some of her poems into the Scholastic Art and Writing competition where she won a silver medal and two honorable mentions in the Connecticut high school division. Poems that she does create are usually in the moment, emotional, and relatively short. Currently, she is just reading and commenting on other poems. Other than poetry, Sheena also enjoys drawing and swims for the Blue Wave Swim and Dive Team.
Articles by Sheena Zhou:
