On may 15th, Heather Derr-Smith from Cuvaj se met with an intergenerational group of writers, students and artists at the American Corner in Trebinje. There were students from Middle School to adulthood and the time together was very moving. Work was shared from U.S. poets addressing gun violence and war and identity, Jericho Brown, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, and Ilya Kaminsky, as well as US-Romanian poet Alina Stefanescue, US-Albanian poet and translator Ani Gjika, Tara Skurtu, and Bosnian writers Selma Asotic, and poets with the Border’s Project at Strane. Students wrote nd shared their own works as well. They made poems of healing for a loved one, the earth, themselves inspired by bark and fruits and seeds Derr-Smith found at a medicinal market. Each person wrote their own healing poem and shared with the group. Many of the writers chose to write a healing poem for Heather Derr-Smith. Which felt like a blessing.
