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High school poet emerges in
Canton
Quiet senior not one to tout her own
talent
By Jessica Fargen
The Patriot Ledger - January 12, 2001
She writes of female oppression and of the
struggle to fit into pre-determined societal molds.
Her writing has been
published in a book and 11 times in a national literary magazine.
She's
only 17 and not even out of high school yet.
Canton High School senior
Lisa Schottenfeld has a jump on a lot of young writers, but some of her teachers
and classmates wouldn't know it.
She's not one to boast about her
accomplishments, said her former English teacher, Rebecca Hays.
"She does
so much I think a lot of people would brag about. She's so subtle and classy
about it," Hays said. "Lisa is so quiet about her
achievements."
Schottenfeld's poem, "Into the Mold," about the pressures
teens face to conform, was chosen from 25,000 entries and published in October in
a teen literary book, Teen Ink: Our Voices, Our Visions. She's also been
published in Teen Ink's magazine, read monthly by about 400,000 students
nationwide.
"She writes like a published author. She was pretty much
writing that way when she was a sophomore," Hays said.
Schottenfeld is
soft-spoken and modest about her writing, which she says is an outlet for her
emotions and what she sees around her.
"I've been writing ever since I can
remember," she said. "Its just sort of always been there."
Being published
is not a way for her to gain fame but to reach out. She also likes the fact that
most students at her high school haven't seen the book or
magazine.
"There are so many people across the country who can relate she
said. "This is something everybody can relate to."
Schottenfeld said she
wants to pursue English, psychology or sociology in college.
She first
fell in love with one of her favorites, Shakespeare, when she played Juliet in a
one-act production of "Romeo and Juliet" her freshman year. She is involved in
school theater and is an assistant director for her temple's drama club, for
which she wrote a play script.
John Meyer, co-editor of the Teen Ink book,
said Schottenfeld's work was striking.
"Hers just stood out because we
thought it really addressed some important issues that other
teens could identify with." Meyer said. "Breaking the mold is something a
lot of teens want to do."
Editors at Newton-based Teen Ink narrowed 25,000
works down to 400 and sent those out to 3,500 junior and senior high students,
who picked the writings published in the book also containing essays, short
stories, commentary, art and photography.
Schottenfeld's poem was used as
an advertisement for the book. That's how Hays found out about it.
"She
happened to be in the advertisement on back of a magazine for the book , " Hays
said. "I just stumbled upon that. It was so wild to see her name."
Hays, a
second-year English teacher, has been adviser of the high school literary
magazine, Prism, of which Schottenfeld is the editor. Schottenfeld also edits the
school newspaper.
"She is the best writer I've come across" she said. "Her
writing is beautiful. It's so clean. It's so interesting. Any assignment I would
give her she would nail it instantly."
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About the Teen Ink book
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