RILEY RAINS / ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

Walking through Founders Hall last Thursday, Toreros might have overheard soft jazz drifting through hallways   and poetry being read from the heart. Peppermint bark and hot chocolate filled students’ stomachs as laughter and conversation overflowed the Lindsay J. Cropper Center for Creative Writing. The Humanities Center   Student Board and the Alcalá Review came together to put on an “Open Poetry Night Revival.” 

The poetry reading was dismantled after a lack of interest after the pandemic — this was the first year the event was put on since COVID-19.

 USD senior and president of the Humanities Center Student Board Olivia Hines explained a bit about the history of night. 

“This was a pre-COVID event, largely because it is in-person and interactive,” Hines shared. “So obviously during COVID attendance kind of plummeted and then [the Humanities Center] stopped offering it. We don’t have great documentation before COVID so we don’t know exactly how long it has been. Working with Anthony has been great — we were so excited for tonight.”

USD junior and Editor-in-Chief of the Alcalá Review Anthony Walz worked closely with Hines to provide a space for campus creatives. The Alcalá Review is a student-led literary journal that annually publishes students’ creative work: poetry, fiction, non-fiction, visual art and any other medium students wish. Walz explained what the revival night meant to him. 

“We’re just trying to bring back something that’s really cool, and I think necessary,” Walz said. “It’s fun to be able to share this with other people. This is something that people at the university used to do a lot, and I feel like it deserves to have that space again. The people here deserve to have that.”

Over 25 students gathered in the Cropper Center to share a variety of poetry: everything from William Blake’s “London” to Ray Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains.” Toreros also shared original work; USD junior Naomi Martinez read an original piece titled “The Ewe and the Lamb.” She shared her experience attending the “Open Poetry Night Revival.” 

“This school giving us the opportunity to have spaces like this where I can read what I’m writing and show what I’ve been learning in my classes thus far boosts my confidence,” Martinez exclaimed. “Sharing it made me cherish it a bit more than I normally would have because it is outside of an assignment. It’s like my baby now.”

Around halfway through the night, Walz paused the reading and invited conversation among students. Toreros basked in the warm lighting, laughing about haikus and snacking on popcorn. The flow opened back up and poets shared their work, sparking emotional reactions from some attendees. 

Next semester, the two organizations are hoping to host a similar event. The Humanities Center Student Board will support a student curated art gallery which will be silence themed. Before the art is revealed, they are looking to invite the Alcalá Review for another poetry reading.

Students gather in the Cropper Center for a night of food, discussion and poetry. Photo courtesy of Emma Vertiz