TERI KOSKI – Poet –
Bio: Teri is a spoken word poet who has a secret identity as a social worker. Much of her poetry speaks to the clients she works with and her advocacy work for mental illness. She hopes that her poetry starts conversations about mental illness and suicide awareness, breaking down stigmas.
Talk to us a bit about community, about yourself as an artist, and about PorchFest, please…
I heard about Porch Fest from my friend Travis. Community events like this are important, especially in a neighborhood in transition like West Central. Events like this bridge gaps between neighbors, bring people out of their homes and get them talking.
I cycle quite often, and I enjoy riding on the Centennial Trail and through Kendall Yards. West Central is a beautiful area, with tree lined streets and turn of the century architecture. I love riding by the restored homes, and picturing the families who must have lived there when the houses were new. It’s fun to imagine such a different way of life happening in the same place, only separated by time.
Community is about a feeling of belonging. A feeling of going home, of comfort and joy. I think catalysts such as PorchFest are important, as they grab hold of that person that is reaching out, and let them know that they have a place to go to, a place to belong.
I feel like my work I do with NAMI Spokane (National Alliance on Mental Illness) is very community oriented. Mental illness is a community concern and a difficult one to address. It’s only by working together that we can hope to make lives easier, and build healthy communities. Through my poetry, I try to share my personal stories with mental illness, showing people that this is a difficult subject, but we can talk about it and handle it together.
The same thing I try to do whenever I read: make a difference to someone. Then that someone helps another someone. And it keeps going.
Why not?
