ADA, Okla. – Seven East Central University (ECU) students recently presented their original poetry at Wednesday Night Poetry in Hot Springs, Ark., with six students serving as the week’s featured headliners.

Beginning Feb. 1, 1989, Wednesday Night Poetry has continued for more than 36 years. The event, which also serves as an open-mic, reached its 1,920 consecutive Wednesday night when ECU’s students were asked to participate in downtown Hot Springs.

Featured students included Mass Communications major Bethany Baggerly (Freshman); English majors Maia Clark (Senior), Addison Guinn (Sophomore), Zachariah Hobia (Sophomore), Jayde Landreth (Junior) and Kris Marc (Sophomore); and Physics major Colton Collins, participating in his first-ever poetry event. The trip was led by ECU professor and Oklahoma poet Dr. Ken Hada.

After an hour of open mic performed by local poets, writers, comedians, and musicians, Guinn opened the ECU feature segment. She took command of the audience with a confident voice, filling five minutes of the time slot with several poems, including a well-received delivery of her poem “Progress; In My Own Little Way,” which offered a personal glimpse into her struggles and strengths.

Marc followed, delivering her own poetry with a softer voice and style that still held the audience’s attention, soliciting snaps and cheers during her five-minute window. She concluded her time with an impassioned recitation of her poem, “Feminazi,” which drew one of the night’s loudest ovations.

Baggerly presented next. “Getting the opportunity to be a part of Wednesday Night Poetry was a privilege and I am forever grateful. Everyone was so welcoming,” she said afterward. She shared three poems, two of which expressed her grief over the recent loss of her daughter. “It was a momentous occasion, being able to share the memory of my daughter, Saoirse. Hot Springs is beautiful this time of year and I hope to return again one day and indulge in the poetry community once more.” By the end of her presentation, several audience members were visibly in tears.

At the halfway point of the featured segment, Hobia read his poems “Rooftops,” “Oblivion,” “Early Morning,” and “Gambler.” Discussing his writing later, he said, “I think when I'm writing, I'm not usually thinking of any particular theme […] As a critic though, I'd say a lot of themes about death, heartbreak, beautiful mundane moments, and love… I'm a very 'thinking' poet… going from one thought to another in search of something. I started poetry as an aid to my studying of philosophy.”

Landreth and Clark closed out the featured presentations. Landreth read several poems that resonated strongly with the audience, eliciting cheers and verbal approval. Her poem “Leaning” received the most notable response, with Baggerly remarking the next day, “I haven’t stopped thinking about it. It has given me so many ideas for my next poem.”

Clark, the only senior in the group and one of the most experienced writers, concluded the segment with polished readings delivered in a confident voice, shaped from her experience in the English Department under Hada and other ECU professors. One attendee was overheard telling Hada, “She can write. She can read too!”

Following the featured readers, coordinator Kai Coggin allotted the final half hour to complete the open-mic list. During this time, Hada and ECU Communications Specialist Cody Baggerly participated.

Also reading during this portion was the seventh ECU student, Collins, a last-minute addition to the trip and a Physics major enrolled in Hada’s Contemporary Poetics course. With no prior experience writing or presenting poetry, he had not applied for the featured program, but after a chance conversation with Hada, he joined the roster and arrived with a written poem. He presented it after offering brief context and was met with enthusiastic applause, leaving no one to suspect it was his first time sharing poetry publicly.

“The trip was a fabulous experience for our students, and I am grateful for the university making it possible,” said Hada. “Putting new writers in front of a live, unfamiliar crowd is a stressful, but effective way to develop their writing voice. I could not be prouder of our students. Frankly, each of them exceeded my expectations. They really turned the room their way. They wonderfully represented themselves and ECU.”

The James Harris Travel Fund provides support for faculty and students in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) to visit important sites, conferences, and activities in their chosen professional fields. Faculty submit applications each fall and spring; a committee comprised of the department chairs in CLASS make selections based on the educational opportunities described in the proposal. Dr. James Harris was a prominent Professor of History at ECU in the 1970s-80s.

Cutline: Front row, left to right; Maia Clark, Addison Guinn, Wednesday Night Poetry host Kai Coggin, Kris Marc, and Jayde Landreth; Back row, left to right, Bethany Baggerly, Zachariah Hobia, Colton Collins, and Dr. Ken Hada.

-ECU-