Practicing What She Teaches
The latest edition of the renowned “Best American Poetry” anthology is out, and in its pages is a name familiar here: Meredith Hasemann.
Ms. Hasemann, who lives in East Hampton, is a writer, teacher, musician, and artist who has worked at the East Hampton Middle School for the last 14 years. Her poem “Thumbs,” which weaves together reflections on her divorce and growing tomatoes, first appeared in The Southampton Review before being recognized by and published in “Best American Poetry.” She wrote it three summers ago after a particularly inspiring nature hike in Ripton, Vt.
In the anthology, Ms. Hasemann’s poem happens to be sandwiched between work by two acclaimed poets whom she admires immensely, Louise Gluck and Terrance Hayes.
She learned of the honor just a day after a fire burned her house to the ground in January. “I had nothing. I didn’t know where I was going to live. But then there was this letter in the mail,” she said on Tuesday, the day the anthology’s 2015 edition was formally released. “It was serendipitous. I had something to feel good about.”
Over her years in East Hampton, Ms. Hasemann has counted several noted writers as her mentors, including David Ignatow and Robert Long, the late poet who was also an editor at The Star. She has several degrees, having studied at Antioch College, Southampton College, New York University, and Middlebury College.
She hopes the honor will open doors for her, particularly when it comes to publishing a book of her own poetry and three young-adult novels she has written.
“It motivates me to keep writing,” Ms. Hasemann said.
She teaches eighth-grade English in a classroom filled with couches and tables instead of desks. A broken guitar is mounted on one wall, and strung from the ceiling are hand-decorated T-shirts from the annual “Word Up!” event she organizes in conjunction with Guild Hall.
“One of the best things for me is teaching poetry to eighth graders,” she said. “I tell my students there is inspiration in everything. Inspiration is everywhere. You just have to keep your eyes open.”
“Professionally, having such a teacher at the middle school benefits our kids, and we are so proud of her,” Charles Soriano, the middle school’s principal, said in an email.
“It’s great for students to see their teachers practice the craft that they teach. . . . She’s an asset to her students in helping them to grow as writers, readers, and thinkers.”