Poet William Wallis celebrates poetry month with students

Guadalupe Huerta

Sports Editor

The poet and author William Wallis reads his poems to two English classes, Mr. Jirn and Ms. Zeineddine, and the poetry club members in Hollywood High School’s historic library in celebration of Poetry Month.

    After a brief introduction from Assistant Principal Pacino Furioso, Wallis spoke to the audience about the importance of poems. “They are the most intense and honest form of communication.”

    Before he became an author, he tried his career as a singer, which in fact went great, and as a baseball player. He found his path as a poet and author through school. That is when he discovered the power of language. Inspiration was everywhere for him. He said he started with pain, then love and eventually found a sense of self discovery.

    He is most fond of his novel Hawk. It is based on family and survival focusing on conflicts and joys within.

    He shared with the audience one of his works. It was a book that he and his daughter, Zara Ilana Wallis created called Images. She took the pictures and he wrote the poems.

    During his readings, he read some poems about the people that have inspired him. Making The Bed was about his mother. True Forms was dedicated to his father. IV was for his daughter.

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