Students are taking the floor in the new writing and performing club that will come to Linfield soon. They’re reading poems that range from stories about talking dogs to koalas falling on your back during copulation to a critique of self-image issues and the problems in our very judgmental society.

Sophomores Sarah Stark, Heidi Ambrose and junior Gabi Gonzalez got the idea for this club after the Original Student Created Artwork Revealed event, also known as the OSCARS, last year, an event put on by junior Ellen Massey during her time with LAB.

“OSCARS was the first time I’ve ever performed, and I have really bad anxiety and stage fright, but I always strive to push myself out of my comfort zone. I want a place where everyone else can do that,” Gonzalez said.

Stark approached Gonzalez after Gonzalez had finished her slam poetry performance.

“I started [a slam poetry club] in high school. We had all sorts of people, from people in involved in theater to people on the football team,” Stark said.

Stark has been writing since her sophomore year in high school, and she plans for the club to be a place where writers in any genre can express their work.

“It’s not particular to poetry. It’s like a safe space where they can write about anything they want. We want it to be led by the members. We’re here to facilitate,” Stark said.

They are still working on the exact name for the club, but they definitely know there are people who are interested in getting this started.

Those at the meeting ranged from songwriters to three-hundred-page short story writers. Although, junior Angelia Saplan did admit that three hundred pages might qualify a novel.

Freshman Andrew Hampson attended the interest meeting, having only performed one slam poem before. The poem was titled Antique Caramel, and it was about an old hooker.

“[I was looking] for like-minded individuals, people who enjoy writing and critiquing art,” Hampson said.

After two slam poetry videos, three students performed: sophomore Quinn Riesenman, freshman Benjamin Bartu and Saplan.

“This poem took me two months to write, which is kind of a big deal because I usually write my poems in 20 minutes,” Saplan said before launching into her poem called “Stretch Marks,” a critique on society’s harsh critiques on all of us.

“There’s not rule at all. That’s what’s great about that kind of poetry,” Stark said.

For more information, email Gonzalez at [email protected] or Stark at [email protected].