What do we want?!
Poetry for Special Quiet Souls
by José Guzmán
There is a thirst for poetry at CSUMB. Writers and readers demand spaces for creativity, self-expression, and conversation about issues that matter to our minds and souls. Dozens of students submitted pieces to the journal In the Ords, which is published by a student club of the same name. That is an example of the growing interest of students in more poetry, more events, workshops, and support for creative writing.
In CSUMB, poetry is a creative art form that students can participate in. Certain spaces involved in poetry are In the Ords club, a student club where many students share their poetry and critique it, improving and growing together. This club helps to make one’s work acknowledged by a larger audience by supporting the process of submitting poems to publications like the student newspaper which is another great option to polish one’s craft.
But, are there enough resources and opportunities besides these options for submitting one’s work? Are there any other ways to get published? Or are there any new innovative ways that can transform poetry and make it more accessible to a greater range of students on campus?
President of the Literary Journal poetry club, In the Ords, Jojo Cook, 4th year, HCOM with a Creative Writing and Social Action concentration and minor in Environmental Studies states, “I don’t think there are nearly enough poetry events on campus. We need more Writers from the Edge, OSU open mics, spontaneous poetry slams on the quad, all of the above.” Cook said. “What we’ve had thus far has been awesome, but to drive up creative engagement around writing and poetry, I think we need to be going harder about it.”
It is crucial to focus on the new and different ways to help grow poetry as a whole to new students on campus. It is important to provide them with this opportunity to enter the realm of poetry for themselves.
Jojo Cook says, “… doing more poetry-centric events and fostering support of the clubs already trying to do that (In the Ords, Writing Waves, and even The Lutrinae to an extent) as well as highlighting the students dedicated to the craft (through the Creative Writing and Social Action concentration) is what is going to expose more of the students base to opportunities to engage with their peers through poetry.”
Another opinion on the matter is brought by Frank Limon, HCOM student and 4th year member of In the Ords “The idea that gaining more numbers of students is not possible with the increase of poetry events; but only by finding the special quiet souls.”
“There are two issues with nurturing poetry within people,” Limon says “the first is that it is an incredibly personal art that requires you to show parts of yourself that might leave you vulnerable. Those that might be interested tend to be quiet, soft-spoken individuals.
Limon states, “Being able to find them and tell them that what their writing is worth something worth honing ends up being incredibly rare…” To reach a target audience, the means to find tactics suitable for quiet individuals.”
Debra Busman is a professor of HCOM and writer of several books. Her books include Fire and Ink: An Anthology of Social Action Writing and Like a Woman. also helps explain how despite the opportunities available currently in CSUMB there can still be more resources that should be injected into poetry events overall.
“Poetry events like spoken word and open mics, reading by contemporary poets through our ‘Writers from the Edge’ series, and our student-run literary journal In the Ords, have helped create and sustain a strong poetry culture here on campus…” Busman says “I would love to see our university commit more resources towards these events!”
Debra Busman also explains how in the modern age, there is a grand number of new poets transforming poetry.
Busman states “We are currently in an exciting period of transformative resurgence with contemporary poetry, largely fueled by the influences of the Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights, Black and Brown Power movements, Hip Hop, and LGBT+ activism of the past few decades.”
The gateway to be opened for new writers, new opportunities for creative writers to be a part of and flourish their capabilities. This power can truly be manifested with more conscious awareness overall. Whether it be from In the Ords club for creative writers, an outlet in The Lutrinae for student writers, or in certain open mic events. These and many more are to be featured and presented to students to share their gifts with the world.
Poetry is a special secret art that many people early on in history have used in many forms and styles. In “On the Origin and Future of Poetry: Notes Toward an Investigation” Carlos Aguasco writes, “Sumerian literature, the oldest we have material evidence of, emerged about 4,700 years ago… The first metaphor was both an accidental and collective creation; it would be more appropriate to call it a proto-metaphor…” The idea is that poetry has long withstood since early periods of history, creating a new beautiful art for humanity.
