LBCC Club in search of next Poet Laureate

The current poet laureate Whitney Smith. Photo courtesy of Commuter.

.

The search is on for the new poet laureate! Could you be the one?

Current LBCC poet laureate Whitney Smith is very close to the end of her one-year term. The club will soon be on the search for a new club leader and will be taking submissions.
Anyone with a love and passion for poetry could be a perfect match.

The poetry club has been led by Smith, who according to the many members of the club, is “the beating heart of the poetry club.”

Smith is the one who gives the club its many prompts to the poems that are read during the club meetings. Last week’s was “ancestry.”

Many of the students had great poems about where they came from. The prompt inspired people to come up with ideas outside of the box. One person spoke of evolution in his poem, a woman talked about her experiences as her own personal ancestor and another talked about her father and her life through her poetry.
Club adviser Robin Havenick has a huge passion for poetry and writing. “About five years ago I went to a poetry club meeting at OSU,” says Havenick. “Loving poetry and wanting it to be alive here, they inspired me to start this club with my students five years ago.”

According to Havenick, things are going very well for this exciting club. “It’s been one of our strongest years.”
Club member Teagan Lochaer, an English major at LBCC, says, “The club is a lot of fun. It’s about bringing a lot of art and poetry to the school. It’s a great outlet for expression of ideas.”

“People think we are critical,” says Havenick. “People get nervous about sharing their poetry, but we are very compassionate about people’s poetry.”

Gabriel Shields, one of the newest members recruited from one of Havenick’s classes, put it like this: “I feel poetry gives people an outlet they wouldn’t usually have. They express because it gives them a way to do it when they usually wouldn’t. It gives me a personal chance to meet other people and see their inner spirit.”
The club is a great place for that lost poet in all of us. Meetings are in the Hot Shot Cafe every Tuesday at 3 p.m. Express your own inner spirit.