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An ex-student at Edge Hill University has become an overnight success in the poetry world after taking inspiration from one of her lecturers.
American Catie Osborn, took part in a study abroad programme between Edge Hill and the University of Iowa and has fond memories of her time studying in Ormskirk, Lancashire.
She recently performed her poetry at a prestigious event in Washington DC to mark the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of John F Kennedy.
Until she studied creative writing at the Edge Hill Catie had always hated poetry and complained that it was “flowery and boring”.
Daniele Pantano, Programme Leader for Creative Writing at Edge Hill, was determined not to let her bias deter him and encouraged her to learn more about contemporary poetry.
Catie said: “I’ve got my time at Edge Hill to thank for this success, as I didn’t even like poetry before coming to the UK, but decided to take a poetry class during my time there.
"I was lucky to have an amazing tutor, Daniele Pantano, who taught me that poetry was not necessarily the stuffy verse that I had imagined. He showed me that poetry could be anything and I took his ideas and used them to start writing slam poetry. So, for me, it’s been a journey of discovery all the way from Ormskirk to Washington!”
“There’s no doubt that I spent some of my best times at Edge Hill and I miss it every single day. Living somewhere completely different to what I was used to was scary but so much fun, and the people I met were fantastic.”
After returning home, Catie became a freelance writer and actor, working on comic books for a company in Colorado and has recently finished performing for Oedipus Rex at the Region 5 American College Theatre Festival. Catie submitted her work to a contest to perform at the city’s Kennedy Center and was offered the chance to perform her slam poem Green, Green Hope.
The poem was chosen because of its reflection of the former president’s ideals. A message of hope aligned with what Catie understood about Kennedy’s legacy. “There’s a line ‘go on let us take that first step. That’s a line that JFK used in his speech, and I loved it. That’s the whole message of the poem.”
Talking about Catie’s work, Daniele said: “She read a few poems in class. They were very powerful both in terms of subject matter and delivery. It’s a style that doesn’t put any obstacles between her text and her reader or listener. She has a wonderful ear for language and a sophisticated sense of balance that makes her performances feel very authentic.”
Catie said: “If I had to give advice to anyone, I’d say just do everything you can and have a go at some of the classes you might not think will be interesting. I didn’t know that I had any talent for poetry and then, all of a sudden, here I am, performing my stuff for really famous people … very strange!”
International students that that are interested in Edge Hill University’s study abroad programme can read further information at edgehill.ac.uk/international/studyabroad
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