By Hailey Rollheiser (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: November 14, 2012
The English Students Association held their bi-annual Poems, Pints and Prose event at AfterMath on Thursday, November 8. Students came out to enjoy a chilly fall night indoors with live entertainment. Participants in the literary open-mic event had the option of reading anything from poetry, prose, monologues or basically anything they had written themselves. Singer-songwriters were also welcome, adding a well-rounded touch to the evening.
Walking through the door, anyone and everyone were welcomed and encouraged to sign up to read a piece – or even improvise on the spot. As I heard one reveler ask, “Can I like, tell a story?” He could and did.
In between readings, Ryan Petersen hosted trivia games such as spelling antidisestablishmentarianism, naming the writer of The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer) and identifying Ernest Hemingway’s favourite drink from multiple choices (gin). The winners of these intermission games won leftover Halloween candy that was often also pelted at the audience.
Prize incentives included a Kobo E-Reader and a gift basket put together by ESA secretary Jordyn Seimens. Anyone who read a poem had a shot at winning the prizes through random draw.
As ESA president Scott Sparrow said, “the purpose of the event is to bring people out, you know, give that kind of shy person with a poem who’s too afraid to read it some incentive, and . . . making it completely random makes it less competitive and more friendly for those kinds of people.” Ashley Mussbacher won the Kobo E-Reader and Beau O’Neill won the gift basket.
Mid-way through the reading, ESA perforformed a Dada poem, involving a crazy owl mask.
The ESA holds events like these to “create community among like-minded people,” Sparrow said. Attending UFV is not a requirement to participate. Sparrow said of one very enthusiastic performer a la Mean Girls, “This guy is so excited . . . he doesn’t even go here!”
Performers came in all styles and genres but performers with energy stood out the most. “Passion is what makes people stand out,” Sparrow noted. “If you have passion for what you are doing, I could listen to you talk about that for a long, long time.”
The next Poems, Pints and Prose event will be early next semester. Coming up late this month or early next, the ESA is planning a community dinner at the U-house; it will be a $2 dinner, with proceeds going to the local food bank. The ESA is also busy looking into hosting a self-publishing seminar.
“I am really hoping we can bring in a local publisher – that’s what we really want to start doing, bringing in local writers and local people in the field,” Sparrow added.
