Justin Festge Russell did not always have a positive attitude towards writing that he has today as Madison’s newest Youth Poet Laureate.
Festge Russell started writing in middle school as a way to prevent him from just roaming the halls after being told to leave class for poor behavior. He said one of his mentors, Kate Jorgenson, allowed him to come into her office during these times.
“She gave me a notebook and piece of paper and a pen,” Festge Russell remembered. “And she said, ‘Write.’”
And write he did. Festge Russell said he used to view writing as a task that he was forced to do, but he eventually found a way to make it something he enjoyed.
“So it’s kind of like a power that I have now,” he said.
Festge Russell, a graduate of Madison East High School, said he was shocked when he found out he would be the next Youth Poet Laureate. He said he submitted four poems and read two of them in front of the Madison Common Council.
One was about the conflict in Palestine written from the third person perspective about a boy in Palestine who dreams of being a poet, but dies from being hit by a missile. Another poem was about his family and life situation and how he dealt with the emotional aspect of it.
The Madison Youth Poet Laureate program is a partnership between the City of Madison and the National Youth Poet Laureate program. The Youth Poet Laureate program honors talented young poets and provides competitive opportunities for young people to showcase their literary art on the regional and national stage.
Festge Russell, who is currently a First Wave scholar at UW–Madison, said his mentors always tell him the basis of his writing is asking questions. Many of his pieces come from him simply questioning the world around him. Festge Russell tries to not take everything at face value and find deeper meaning, he said.
Festge Russell’s passion for writing seeps into his free time, as well, as he enjoys making freestyle raps under the name Jexizis. Along with freestyling, he said he enjoys creating visual productions, like music videos.
Outside of his creative endeavors, Festge Russell played rugby in high school and hopes to play Rugby during his time at the University of Madison-Wisconsin.
An ambitious freshman at the university, he is currently studying elementary education. He hopes to work for the Madison Metropolitan School District as a middle school teacher. He also hopes to transition into a higher role in the education field at some point.
Festge Russell said his middle and high school teachers not only got him into writing, but also influenced his career goals.
“They (his teachers) showed me poetry, they showed me art, and that opened a world for me,” Festge Russell said. He said his teachers helped him realize school was not just numbers and reading, but contained love and growth.
“I want to be able to bring that to a kid near me,” Festege-Russell said.
As Madison’s Youth Poet Laureate, Festge Russell will give three public readings with Madison’s current Poet Laureate. However, Festge Russell hopes to do more readings during his term.
When asked about the best piece of advice he received from his mentors, he said, “Come as you are. When you come into a space, don’t assimilate…”
