Writing, publishing alive and well at HBHS

There’s a hush over the Starbucks cafe. A young woman, slight and rather timid looking, stands by a display of specialty tea. She leans toward her audience as they sit crowded around little circular tables. Her ice-blue eyes are purposeful; she takes a deep breath – and slams. Words pour from her, passionate rhythm; and the meaning – she commands her listeners to hear her story. This is senior Alyssa Mercedes Williams, a slam poet and a respected member of the Hollis/Brookline High School writing community. As well as being an award-winning poet, Williams is an editor of Genres, a literary magazine and the newest of HBHS’ trio of publications, which also includes a newspaper, The Cavalier Chronicle – or “CavChron” – and a yearbook, Excalibur. All of these are mentored by Lin Illingworth, who aside from having school-renowned baking skills also teaches writing, poetry and literature classes. Some teachers would be satisfied to have their students writing outstanding news articles, short stories and poems. Not Illingworth: She expects more, and pushes her classes to perform the poems they write, create full-page paper spreads, and coordinate the production of more than 200 pages of yearbook images and text. For these students, the greatest reward for their efforts is an affectionate nickname and a handful of Swedish Fish, the preferred treat of Room 141, headquarters of the HB publication complex. “If it wasn’t for Ms. I. and other English teachers here, I would never have been exposed to the world of writing outside high school,” Williams said.