Continuing the 28-year-old tradition, writers will be speaking to English classes and at a community reading during Writers Week, March 4 through 7. The community reading will be held on Thursday, March 7, at 7 p.m. in the Eagle Theater and is open to whoever would like to attend. This year, although the speakers for the English classes are not connected through a common theme, the community read is focused on poetry with a panel of four different poets attending.

During the same week, students will have a chance to participate in poetry slams, one specifically for the ninth grade students during lunch and one for the entire school. The student that comes in first place at the schoolwide poetry slam will be presenting alongside the four poets during the community read.

English teacher Lindsey Regoli has taken over Assistant Principal Galen Rosenberg’s position as the teacher in charge of Writers Week this year and has been working with a parent committee headed by Elena Shea to organize the event. Rosenberg had to give up the position in order to manage his other duties but still attends the meetings and stays involved in the coordinating process.

“It was something that seems to be pretty popular among the teachers, so I just thought it would be a good way to get more involved in the school and the English Department,” Regoli said.

This parent committee has been contacting many of the writers in October and November. Some of the writers featured this year are returning to the school for another Writers Week presentation. Teachers were surveyed last year to see which writers were successful speakers and whether they should be invited back. Although the list has been mostly finalized and many writers have been officially slated to speak to students, there are still some last-minute confirmations to be made.

The four poets that will be present during the community read are Mario Chard, Paul Flores, Amy Glynn Greacen and Chinaka Hodge. All four are established poets with multiple published works. Journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, who graduated from Mountain View High School, is coming to speak at Writers Week again. An LAHS graduate, Dan McDermott, YEAR, is also slated to appear.

Writers Week is intended to be an opportunity for students to hear professional writers who have had real-world experience with publishing their work. With a broad range of writers, from journalists to writers who’ve worked on animated films, students learn about the different applications of English and writing skills.

“I think the students will be able to see that writing is a real, viable career… with all the focus on science and technology, that there’s really a place for writing and that creativity matters,” Regoli said.

She said that Writers Week allows students to see the various perspectives of different writers throughout the industry. Last year, Justin Torres and Josh Foster made a lasting impression on Regoli because of their easy connection with students and the way in which they conveyed their varying experiences.

“[They] break it down in a way that people don’t realize quite how the writing process works, to take something from an idea all the way to a book that you can hold in your hands,” Regoli said.

Junior Vincent Su said that Writers Week is beneficial to students because it allows them to explore past their boundaries and learn more about the real world experience of writing.

“Last year, there was this speaker who talked about how he wrote about his travels around the United States and how… he had to try different things,” Vincent said. “It inspired me to try new things as well.”

Even though many students will not study English later on in life, these writers show students that writing is valuable no matter what. During Writers Week, students gain a new perspective on writing and on those who write for their living.

“Whether or not someone becomes an engineer or a writer, to understand how writing happens is important because no matter what you do as a career, you would use writing as a skill,” English Department Coordinator Keren Robertson said.