/AFK Monday!

Nicholas Brosz

The regulars of the local coffee and wine shop, Mochavino, witnessed a delightful gathering of posh college students and professors on Monday, March 21^st. The group, called /afk, invaded the shop to read a number of poems and short stories. The event itself was organized by English Professor Stacey Berry. Professor John Nelson had dragged his ENGL 283 Creative Writing class along for the event on assignment and gave a keynote address before slyly ducking out of the shop before having to witness any of his students’ work.

The focal point was a poem written with the use of 14 words that had to be included. The poems were of a wide variety of themes and all turned out superbly.

The readers additionally included English Professors Justin Blessinger and Nancy Moose as well as the DSU Professor of Education, Mark Geary, who read a short story about rapids-riding that he had written for a children’s book. The event went smoothly, with even the regular patrons applauding the students’ poetry. Professor Berry agreed that the event went well.

“Thanks to Mark Geary, DSU Professor of Education, who read a short story, and John Nelson, DSU Professor of English and a load of his Arts and Sciences creative writing students, who read poetry and other short pieces, the /afk reading on Monday was a great success. Several faculty members, Nancy Moose and Justin Blessinger, also contributed poems related to a given-word poetry exercise that Dr. Nelson and his students had used as inspiration for their pieces. It was great to see such a large group of both faculty and students participating and in attendance at this last /afk. That kind of creative and supportive atmosphere, where we can all share our work, is what I want this reading series to be.

[I am] looking forward to a crowded house again for our next reading in April. If anyone is interested in participating, please get in touch with me: [email protected] or on Facebook: search ‘/afk reading series’.”

This isn’t the first successful /afk event organized by Professor Berry, and there can be much more poetry and short story fun anticipated for the future.