Catching up with Savannah Patterson, award-winning poet

PACE — Savannah Patterson, a junior dual-enrolled student at Pace High School and Pensacola State College, recently won first place in the poetry division at the National Beta Club State Convention.

Savannah said writing poetry helps her express herself; Marc Livanos, a local poet who is in line to become Milton’s official poet laureate, has mentored her for many months.

Here, we catch up with Savannah and learn more about her life, poetry and accomplishments.

How long have you been writing poetry?

I first started writing poetry in the sixth grade.

What do you like to do in your free time other than writing?

In addition to writing, I also like to illustrate my poems. I love my dog (Cupcake); she’s the light of my life.

Do you know what you want to do for a living?

I have a good idea. I want to go into the mental health field; probably be a psychiatrist.

What are poetry competitions like?

I went (to the National Beta Club State Convention) with the other kids on my school trip — the rest of the beta club and my sponsors. There are a bunch of different competitions, ranging from academic to other arts. I wanted to do poetry, so basically what we had to do was go into a room, spread out, and we got one hour to write a poem with a prompt and a word count.

How do you think the city of Milton will benefit from having a poet laureate?

For other poets about my age, I think it will draw attention and say, “Hey, you can do something with your talent.” And it will give them an opportunity or just a vision of what they could achieve; that’s really important. Like (Livanos once) said about wanting to start competitions in schools — if I had that in the ninth grade, I would have been ecstatic.

Have you won any other awards for your poetry?

I have. In the seventh grade, I participated in the Blackwater River Festival and I won first place for my poem.

Is there anything else you would like people to know about you?

I carry a journal with me most days, and I write everything in there from just venting to poetry to memes; it’s great.

I have synesthesia, where your senses mix up a little bit. So for me, days of the week have colors, and numbers have colors, and certain sounds have certain tastes, etc.; so that definitely plays a role in my poetry. 

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Catching up with Savannah Patterson, award-winning poet