On April 13, 2023, Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye of Project Voice, who are currently on their second tour since the COVID-19 pandemic, came to visit FHS. They both have a longstanding relationship with FHS Librarian Ruben Zamora, who first invited Project Voice to come perform poetry in 2008 when they were both college students. Since then, they have performed in 32 countries and done 10 shows at FHS.

“It is a real joy and pleasure to be back at Fremont,” Kaye said. “This is where it all started for us in some ways. The students and the staff are just as great as we remember it.”

 According to Zamora, his relationship with them started after he found a video of Project Voice as undergrads performing alongside Santa Clara counties own “Mighty” Mike Mcgee and Buddy Wakefield at Brown University. 

“When I became librarian here at Fremont […] I wanted to bring a kind of a college atmosphere, so I envisioned having speakers out in the quad on the soapbox, and then the spoken word poetry movement in 1999-2000 was just bursting,” Zamora said. “So I reached out to these poets, who are now famous, and they were willing.” 

During their most recent show at FHS, Kay and Kaye performed a series of both new and old poems. Key pieces include “Origin Story”: a poem where Kay and Kaye adamantly remind the audience that they are neither siblings nor dating, instead implicating the beauty of congruent lives and friendship. Amongst other famed pieces were Kay’s “A Bird Made of Birds” and Kaye’s “My Grandmothers Ballroom.” Of course the finale, “When Love Arrives” asserted itself yet again as a timeless classic. It is one of Kay & Kayes best known duets, on the longing for picturesque romances and the juxtaposed endurance and brevity of relationships.

In honor of Poetry Month, Zamora and the library are featuring a poetry board for the rest of April where students can post their own work and a virtual open mic, featuring various contemporary poets. 

“And of course we have books out on the counter as well as tons of books in our stacks, which we can always refer you to if anyone’s looking for a certain type or a certain poet,” Zamora said. 

On returning to FHS, Kay particularly quoted the enthusiasm amongst the student body.

“I love the energy that young people have for poetry here,” Kay said. “And I know that there’s amazingly talented poets in the student body, and that helps us feel right at home.”