Photo by: Brenden Cowan

From 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, April 5, the Brock English Students’ Association (ESA) and the Brock Creative Writing club will be co-hosting a poetry reading at the Niagara Artists’ Centre (NAC).

This event is open mic, meaning anyone is free to come out to both read and listen. Although the event is free, both the ESA and the Creative Writing club encourage attendees to donate to the NAC if they can.

According to an executive from each organization — second-year English literature student and co-president of the Creative Writing Club Gabriel Piessens, and second-year creative writing student and vice president of the ESA Andrew Hawlitzky — there will be no restrictions on what kinds of poetry can be presented. Poets are encouraged to, “share your own poetry or poetry you find interesting.”

This is the first time these two organizations have worked together on an event, and they’ve stated they’re open to further collaboration in the future.

“This is our first collaboration, as both of our clubs are relatively new,” they said. “The experience of working on this event together has been smooth, and we are excited to see what we do next.”

Additionally, this is the first time either organization has partnered with the NAC. They stated that this partnership has been similarly pleasant and they look forward to future collaborations.

“This is the first time either of our clubs have worked with NAC,” they said. “So far, they’ve been quite cordial and generous, and we are excited to build our relationship with them in the future.”

If the high turnout the Creative Writing club had at their previous poetry reading event is any indication, this event will likely feature a wide variety of poets from Brock and the St. Catharines area. Those interested are encouraged to show up Wednesday night and see what this event has to offer.