Article by: Breyona Padgett, Contributing Writer

Members of the creative writing community gather during Pizza, Poetry, and Prose Open Mic Night on Aug. 27. Pictured are Kaylin Defore, Nathan Martin, Micah “Wesley” Grant, Dylan Thomas, Katherine Ruth Eddins, Jocelyn Cullity, Luke Gorgensen, and J.P. Sylvester.

On Aug. 27, the Stokes Center for Creative Writing hosted its Pizza, Poetry, and Prose Open Mic Night, inviting students across campus to share self-written works.

For Jocelyn Cullity, director of the Stokes Center and of creative writing in the English Department, the night was about more than pizza. It was about building a writing community “as big and varied on campus as possible.”

“We’re not just calling on our own creative writing community, but creative writing students who love creative writing and might want to come and do this kind of an event,” Cullity said. The event was open to everyone, whether or not they are pursuing a Creative Writing major or minor. Last year, Cullity said, the center learned that students often think open mic nights sound cool but do not realize they can join without committing to a degree path.

“Just come and join us. The more people, the merrier,” she said.

For students, the hope was a sense of belonging. “Mostly, we’re looking at community, like feeling like they found a writing community itself that they can be a part of, where they feel safe to actually just get up and recite something that they have written themselves from scratch,” Cullity said.

Getting the word out remains the biggest challenge. At this university, a double major can be harder to manage, so the center encourages students to consider a minor. Creative Writing, she said, “teaches you how to write, and it teaches you how to imagine,” skills that serve any career, from STEM to journalism.

For Cullity, the value goes beyond skill-building. It’s a break from deadlines, tests, and essays, and a chance to slow down in a world full of noise and phones. “What’s really important about creative writing is that it teaches people empathy, how to think about somebody else,” she said. “I think it teaches humanity, and I think we need that at this point in this country.”

Cullity believes spaces like this matter because students rarely get them elsewhere. From her perspective, writing offers “a little bit of space to be able to celebrate myself and also think about my own identity and just have that pause for reflection.”

“We never slow down. The phones make us go super, super fast, and writing says, ‘This is me on the page, and I have this to say.'”

The Stokes Center for Creative Writing and Jaguar Productions will continue creating opportunities for students and community members to experience poetry and creative writing. On Oct. 1, at 4 p.m., Assistant Professor Dr. Lucas Jorgensen will deliver the 24th annual Eugenie L. Hamner Lecture for the Graduate Program in English. The event begins at 4 p.m. in the Student Center Terrace, and a reception will follow. The event is open to the public and will give attendees another opportunity to experience spoken poetry and hear words meant to inspire change in the world around you and within yourself.