Through the 3rd Eye Editor Kara Madden wrote the following article about Patricia after she won the Grand Prize in the national River of Words Contest in 2008.
At 13, most young people are preoccupied with school crushes, a horror of gym class or excitement at finally entering high school. Patricia Schlutt, however, has something more to show for her first year as a teenager — a Grand Prize in the River of Words Environmental Poetry & Art Contest.
This is not the first award she has received acknowledging her inspired poetry. In addition to the Grand Prize, this March she also won first place in the Michigan River of Words poetry contest for a different poem. She has placed frequently in the Kent County Annual Poetry Contest: first place as a 6th grader, honorable mention as a 7th grader, and 3rd place this year. Last summer she won first place in the On-The-Town Poetry Contest.
Patricia started writing poetry in the first grade when her teacher alerted English teacher and poet Rodney Torreson of the first-grader's exceptional writing abilities. Torreson regularly volunteers his time to work with young writers, and promptly invited Patricia to join a group of students meeting once a week to discuss and write poetry. She has been writing ever since.
River of Words is a non-profit organization focused on promoting watershed awareness and the arts. Part of that promotion is an annual poetry and art contest open internationally to students age 5 through 19. The contest is organized in conjunction with The Library of Congress Center for the Book and usually boasts about 20,000 entries, from which eight Grand Prize winners are chosen — four artists and four poets. Patricia won the Grand Prize in category III, students grades 7-9.
Many of Patricia's poems are well-wrought stories of objects or memories.
"I just go back to things that I care about, things that tell a story to me," said Patricia. "I think it's important to find imagination, past and future in everything you see."
Among other things, her inspiration often includes nature and her father. Her Grand Prize-winning poem, "Stories Told With Sand Whipping in Our Faces," combines both.
"I woke up with the idea in my head of a memory of when I was younger and my father took me all over where he was born — in St. Joseph," said Patricia. "It just became a poem."
The poem is filled with vivid imagery and provides an insightful perspective on her father's reflection on his childhood and the role that nature plays in bridging the generational gap.
Although Patricia was at a loss when asked which poem of hers she liked the best, she was quick to answer about her favorite poets.
"Some of the poets I really look up to are Judith Minty, Mary Oliver, and Ted Kooser," said Patricia.
She considers Minty her favorite poet because of her lyrical style and frequent nature references: "Her poetry is dreamy and loose but yet is very precise and…descriptive," said Patricia.
Graceful lines from Patricia's winning poem reveal her potential to someday equal the poets she admires: "Later, seagulls scampered/through the dunes/as we climbed to a place/where roots laced like fingers over the earth/and Lake Michigan lay before us,/as if it were a guardian." Rich images and a flowing melody are staples of Patricia's poetic style, and couple with her flair for internal rhyme.
Grand Prize winners in the River of Words contest were awarded an all-expenses paid trip for two to Washington D.C. for an awards ceremony and the chance to read their poem in the Library of Congress. Patricia's mother accompanied her to D.C. where in addition to scheduled activities, they and other prize-winners spent time with the co-founders of the organization, Robert Hass and Pamela Michael. They also did some sight-seeing.
Although it is an enormous accomplishment to have achieved such recognition so young, Patricia is extremely modest about her awards. She acknowledges Torreson as the reason for her success.
"I wouldn't be writing today or really know what poetry really was if he hadn't taught me in first grade," said Patricia. She continues to work with Torreson and a group of other students on a weekly basis, and credits the support of this group for her successes.
"This is a real dream for me because I never expected to get anywhere near the national level or anything," said Patricia. "But I've always wanted to, so it's one of my life goals, achieved."
When asked to give advice to young aspiring poets, Patricia firmly said, "Don't give up. You really have to care about poetry and the subject before you can write a really good poem."
As with everything worth pursuing, poetry takes practice. But in the end, with determination, anything is possible — like winning a Grand Prize in the largest youth poetry competition in the world.
Patricia looks forward to continuing to create a voice for objects and people through poetry. She simply states, "Poetry is in everything — if you can find it."