Award-Winning Poet Gloria Monaghan Inspires Young Writers at Westwood High School

WESTWOOD — Students in Mr. Kieran Moriarty’s Creative Writing class at Westwood High School traded keyboards for pencils and pens yesterday, as acclaimed poet and Wentworth University Professor Gloria Monaghan visited the classroom for a hands-on lesson in creativity, collaboration, and the art of poetry.

Monaghan, a professor of English and Writing and the author of seven poetry collections, read selections from her latest books, The Diary of St. Marion and Cormorant on the Strand, before speaking with students about the importance of journal writing as a gateway to developing poetry.

But the highlight of the visit came when Monaghan invited the class to create poems together in an energetic collaborative writing exercise. Students — joined by teacher Kieran Moriarty and Westwood poet Dr. Lynne Viti — each wrote two lines of poetry using assigned words before passing their work to the person beside them. With each round, Monaghan introduced two new words, challenging participants to build on one another’s ideas and voices.

For many students, the activity offered a rare change of pace. Accustomed to composing their work on computers, students found themselves returning to handwritten drafts with pencils or pens — a challenge they embraced with enthusiasm and good humor.

By the end of the session, participants discovered that the evolving poems, quirky and unexpected at times, are promising first drafts shaped by four different writers. The exercise demonstrated not only the spontaneity of poetry, but also the power of collaboration in the creative process.

Monaghan’s visit was part of  Viti’s “Poets in the Schools” project, which began in 2022 and each year has brought established poets into Mr. Moriarty’s classroom each year. Previous visiting poets have included Dariana Guerrero in 2022, Jeffrey Harrison in 2023, David Surette in 2024, and Heather Treseler in 2025.

The Poets in the Schools project is made possible through support from grants provided  to Viti by the Westwood Cultural Council and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.