Kelly Raymundo
Kelly Raymundo is a 2010 OPRFHS graduate and two-time member of Louder Than a Bomb. She has a B.A. in English Literature from Benedictine University. She is a two-time annual Open Mic winner of Benedictine University. She is a two-time finalist in the annual Gwendolyn Brooks open mic competition in Chicago. You can find one of her poems published in The Golden Shovel Anthology: New Poems Honoring Gwendolyn Brooks. Kelly is a wife and mom of two and her work commonly centers around womanhood and domesticity.
The impact of poetry and the spoken word club
When I arrived at OPRFHS as a freshman, I was initially blind to just how much I desperately needed to break away from the shell that I hid behind all my life, as “the quiet girl.” I was always afraid of what people would think of me if I spoke up- about anything. I used to get so much anxiety in ordinary moments of public speaking like saying “here” during rollcall- uncertain how the pitch of those words would come out in the dead silence of listening peers. I can recall so many moments like this where I was silenced by my own fears. Afraid of my own voice. When I started writing poetry, I started allowing myself to be free from captivity. When I started sharing my poems, out loud and to peers, I found my confidence, my identity, my voice. I didn’t have to live my life hiding my words. I owe this ultimately to Spoken Word Club. By the end of my four years in Spoken Word Club, I had participated in hundreds of writing workshops in school and outside of it which gave me the opportunity to break down the barriers I had been building up since childhood. I think that that is very crucial in writing, and I honestly don’t think I would have ever had the courage to confront the personal narratives in my poetry without being a member of these inviting spaces. It has been a little over 10 years since I graduated from the club and I stand firm in my opinion that OPRF has one of the best writing programs in the nation. When I finally complete the novels that I have been dreaming up I will owe a huge thanks to Peter Kahn and Spoken Word Club for crafting me into the writer I still am today.
Top favorite poets or lyricists
Warsan Shire, Patricia Smith, and Conchitina Cruz
Connect with kelly IG
Writing Prompts
Write a poem that utilizes a mythological or fictional monster. The monster could either be a metaphor or simply referenced in the poem.
Write about a moment you were completely in-tune with your body. Detail the sensations felt
A time you felt an overwhelming sense emotion OR a time you didn’t feel any emotion at all
Write a poem about your birth as if you were there to witness it