“This is Traci Connor, assistant professor of English, and if she were a beverage, she’d be a whiskey sour!” announced junior Meredith Luby, co-founder of Wordquake, at last week’s event. Faculty members and students cozily piled into the Greenleaf, Guilford’s coffee co-op, on Sept. 17 to partake in the first Wordquake event of the fall semester, a reading by Guilford faculty.

Wordquake is a monthly event where Guifordians are able to present their creative expressions to other members of the community. Imagine a small room of people, some familiar – some strange, sharing their private innovations with all who attend. During the event, ideas spark and creative juices flow, and ultimately the creative community on campus is strengthened.

“The sign on the fence says No Trespassing, but there’s a secret pond back there, which means it’s just me and my dog and the snapping turtles biting on the ragged edges of sky,” read Connor from her poem titled “Five Gallon Bucket” at Wordquake.

Opening her house to the public, Connor first started Wordquake last year, as one of her many personal projects. However, as interest increased, The Greenleaf Review, a campus literary magazine, began sponsoring Wordquake events. This year’s Wordquake events will be hosted on campus at the Greanleaf.

Luby, editor-in-chief of The Greenleaf Review, expressed the importance of writers sharing their work with the world.

“Last year, I read a lot, and it is a good experience for any writer to get more comfortable with reading your work in front of others. It’s inspiring to hear other students’ and professors’ work,” said Luby. “It’s nice to know that others are working, and to see people’s unique views definitely helps when you’re working on a creative project.”

This year, each Wordquake event will be associated with a club on campus with the purpose of drawing in, as Luby explained, “more people who wouldn’t normally be involved with something like Wordquake.”

“I’m glad Wordquake has moved to campus, as it’s now available to a wider audience,” said Dana Professor of English Carolyn Beard Whitlow, who read some of her poetry at this week’s past event. “Writers, poets especially, need to hear their works aloud, as poetry is an aural/oral medium. The words live on the page but come alive during a reading.”

“Watching amazing editors build something important on campus, as a writer, calls work out for me,” said Connor.

Connor referred to the interplay that happens between artists, as well as the community, that leads to new ideas when creative work is shared.

“It prompts something I didn’t even know was lurking in my consciousness,” Connor explained. “It’s really important to share work. When you hear a new voice, it’s an opportunity for you to see things differently and to make new discoveries and connections.”

Senior Aaron Woerner, a Greenleaf frequenter, attended last week’s event, as well as past Wordquake events.

“Wordquake provides a good forum for people to see a wide-range of writing,” she said. “I go to the events because I really enjoy creative writing.”

Award-winning author Dorothy Allison will read at the next Wordquake on Oct. 30. The Greenleaf Review invites you to engage in the creative community on campus by listening or sharing your work.