Anyone is welcome to attend and read pieces that send a shiver down the spine

By Kylie Frain

KU students are invited to an evening of inspiration within the writing community

Shoofly Literary Magazine’s first monthly open mic reading will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 18 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in MSU room 205. Anyone is welcome to attend and read their poetry or fiction work. 

Shoofly is KU’s student-run literary journal. It is published, in print, annually and consists of poetry, short stories, drama pieces and creative nonfiction written by KU students. 

This month’s theme is Halloween. This includes scary stories, dark fiction, mysterious poetry, or any piece that sends a shiver down the spine.

“It’s kind of fun for this time of year,” said editor-in-chief, Jessi Walker.  While students are encouraged to bring pieces relevant to the theme, anyone can also read anything outside of the topic.

“We debated actually having readings at all this year because last year it didn’t seem like most people were interested,” said Walker.

Walker and the rest of the Shoofly Eboard voted to continue the monthly readings this year. They want to focus on getting the open mic nights advertised more to KU students and to encourage them to come and share their work. 

“Reading your work to an audience is the best feeling,” said Dr. Jeffery Voccola, who has been Shoofly’s faculty advisor for 18 years. He began the open mic nights during his second year in the role to give students a “sense of a writing community.” 

Shoofly’s open mic nights are an opportunity for students to acquire experience reading their work to an audience, gain inspiration from other KU writers and spend time within the campus’ writing community. 

“You get to be around other people who love writing the way that you love writing, and that’s the most important thing,” said Voccola. 

For more information on Shoofly and their upcoming events visit Shoofly’s Engage page here.