The Creative Writing Club is hosting a poetry reading, Open Mic Night, on Friday, Nov. 12 on West Campus in order to raise money for publishing fees for its upcoming book.
The event is held from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Business-Communication Center Forum and ticket prices are sold at the door for $5. The club will also be accepting donations during the event.
The reading will consist of mostly short stories and poems and the club is welcoming students to come read some of their unique pieces. Readers will have 3-5 minutes to present their pieces in front of the audience.
Club President Jon Vreeland, who started the club, said the event will consist of a diversity of readings, including rapping and slam poetry.
“We wanted to do something fun for the club to solidify it,” he said.
The club started this semester and consists of 16 official members. The students said they have a passion for writing, and meet weekly to peer edit each other’s work and find ways to encourage more students to join.
Jon Vreeland, left, and Rachel Bower discuss upcoming events during a Creative Writing Club meeting on Thursday, Nov. 5 in Santa Barbara. Vreeland is the President of the club and Bower is the Vice President.
Many of their pieces have been featured in the online literary journal Painted Cave and all the members of the club are encouraged to share their writings as well as contribute ideas for getting more students involved.
Vice President Rachel Bower, who deals with scheduling and handles all hard copies of submissions, said the club is useful for getting feedback on academic papers and hearing other student’s perspectives.
“It’s a really helpful tool,” she said. “All students are encouraged to come share their work and get help.”
She said the club wants to make it an ongoing tradition for them to have a book published. It receives a variety of submissions from students that are carefully analyzed and critiqued in order for students to get the best possible feedback.
“Overall, most of the submissions are a little bit darker,” Bower said. “Some students submit writings about drug abuse and other darker subjects.”
The club will be looking for artists to illustrate poems written and help bring them to life.
By having a book published, hopefully by April 2016, Vreeland feels it will bring back old traditions to the school and motivate more students to write.
