Poetry Parasite has developed over the years. It all began when a group of students consisting of the former English class of Dr. Cannon came together at the German School of Washington, DC (DSW) in Potomac in 2004 to start a poetry workshop. The idea was to meet on a weekly basis and to share our love for poetry.

At first the group consisted of Dr. Cannon, Sabine Schulz, Quirin Pamp, Nina Prader and Rabea Guettler. Soon, we had the idea to share our poetry with others: to send our “letter to the world.” We decided to do this in the shape of a poetry booklet. Next, we faced the problem of a suitable name for the editions. The final result was Poetry Parasite!

Our first issue was rather modest: just poems, paper cover, and one illustration. With time, the issues were filled with illustrations and the work of additional contributors. Poetry Parasite was quickly becoming the first chance for students to be published.

At the beginning of 2005 Rabea Guettler left us as a staff member, but she still contributes her poems.

In 2005, Margaux Cannon joined our group as a very talented illustrator.

In further hopes of spreading an appreciation of poetry and to encourage lyrical talents, we hosted a Poetry Contest in the autumn of 2005.

This book is our latest venture. It is a collection of our previous issues as well as the latest poetic endeavors. It documents our development and growth.

We hope the future holds many more opportunities for Poetry Parasite; we hope it will be a means to keep this group of people together—united through words, paper and friendship.