Last August, Remy Lee ’26 was chosen as one of 45 semifinalists for the National Student Poets Program, one of the nation’s highest honors for poets in 10th and 11th grades.
Remy’s poem, “Quote Collection, 2nd floor East, Heart museum,” earned a Gold Key in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards 2024. His work then advanced to a panel of national judges, who nominated Lee as a semifinalist for the National Student Poets Program. About 2,000 submissions from a pool of more than 35,000 poems earned Gold Keys and moved on to the national level.
Poetry began for Remy with his family. He said, “My mom wrote poetry in her younger days, and my dad was an artist. This family background exposed me to the emotional sensitivity of poetry very early. I first started writing poetry in Korean in primary school, but after coming to Hotchkiss, I found myself writing more often in English. Now, I traverse both worlds freely.”
“Quote Collection, 2nd floor East, Heart museum” addresses Remy’s reaction to the loss of an important relationship. He said, “Imagine you had just suffered a terrible heartbreak. Wondering what went wrong, you take yourself apart for inspection. You play the old songs you used to listen to, look through their lyrics. Those lines take you away to a museum exhibit, where you observe your heart’s journey. You study your feelings—how they die, linger, double back, revive— and with every step you take forward, you learn how to move on and put yourself back up. The poem came about in Prep year when I was recovering from a diffi cult time in my life. That observance and appreciation of the changes within is ultimately the impetus for the poem.”
Whether by engaging with visiting writers, in conversation with faculty poets, or in club meetings, Remy has taken advantage of the resources offered at the school. He said, “I learn from many faculty in our community who share the same poetic soul and sensitivity. Being able to communicate and interact with those people and share ideas and feelings is a great source of development.”
As co-head of the Creative Writing club, Remy supports others who are passionate about writing. He said, “This year, I’m planning to provide more opportunities to spark the love of poetry in our community, such as workshops, speakers, open write meets and readings, and of course, the April Poetry Month celebrations. As the great Robin Williams said in Dead Poets Society, ‘We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race.’ Everyone comes to this world with a seed of poetry in their heart. You just have to give it grace and patience and water it from time to time to keep it hopeful. Then, at the right time at the right place, it will sprout— that’s when you really start living.”
