Gallery • 12 Photos

Brianna Rich

This year it was the 12 annual celebration of national poetry month and to celebrate the creative writers’ coffeehouse was held. During the coffeehouse, there were poems read by the contest winners and by the people who just wanted to share their poems.

The creative writer’s coffee house was brought to life with many poems and with the appearance of a guest speaker. 

Creative writers coffee house is an event hosted by Lori Muntz, an English instructor, to recognize and hear the poems written by contest winners of the Telolith and poetry contest. 

“There are so many hearts and minds who want to share loss, love, and their connections,” Muntz said.

Guest speaker Cash Hollistah, a rapper from Salina, shared how brave it is for a student to get up there and share their words. 

“I feel privileged to be able to stand here with my fellow poets and hear what you guys have written,” Hollistah said as he welcomed the audience. 

Elisa Quintero, a political science major from Tepic Nayarit, Mexico, wrote a poem about her dog that passed away in order for her to find a way to say good-bye. 

“The introduction of my piece was by far my favorite part because it mentions how close we were and how we did everything together,” Quintero said.

Amy Whitaker, a student from Liberal, read a sonnet called “Honest Record Made” for her first reading of the evening. This piece for Witaker explores “the timeless nature of a relationship that lasts forever.” For her, the best part of the sonnet is the line “pursues the setting sun,” because it is important to preserve stories for the future. 

Whitaker was also the first prize winner and was awarded with the best poem at Seward County Community College with her poem named “August Evening.” 

While Quintero thought that hearing the other poems was just as great as reading her own, Whitaker did not. 

“I like to hear the other poems and write, just not read what I write,” Whitaker said. 

Hollistah is not the only one to believe that getting up in front of a crowd to read one’s own work is brave — Dr. Muntz couldn’t agree more. 

“As Cash Hollistah said, it takes a great amount of bravery to get up there and share from your heart,” Muntz said. 

To Muntz, this event could not be possible without the community effort to put it together. She mentioned that the community is the biggest supporter for this event to take place.

“I just want to say thank you again to the teachers, family members and friends who encourage creative writing and give them the bravery they have to come out and share,” Muntz said.