New Creative Writing Club Offers a Chance to Use Imagination

By Julia Lund

Calling all creative writers. Adelphi is now offering a Creative Writing Club for all majors and years. While the university offers classes on creative writing, the club founders wanted to create a space that was free of the rigidity of assignments and allowed for freedom to just create.

It was a year in the making, since fall 2022, said co-vice president, Jaylene Aponte, a junior psychology major and an African, Black and Caribbean Studies minor. The club originally was denied creation but after a re-evaluation they were approved when even a professor noticed the gap in club offerings. Faculty advisor Jan-Henry Gray, an assistant professor of English, said he was surprised there wasn’t already a related club. He said he was immediately eager to help start the club and he “hopes this is the first of many years of this club on campus.”

Before the club was created Aponte and a group of other students would meet in the library and share their work amongst themselves. However, according to secretary Zoila Prado, a senior creative writing major and communications minor, they would be so engrossed in sharing their work they once “got kicked out of the library.”

Like the library gang, this club will maintain the same exciting energy, but no one’s getting kicked out this time. The club meets every Monday at 1 pm for an hour in the University Center. The meeting follows a casual format, optional sharing of work and or creative exercises to get the creative flow started.

President Farah Bruno, a health care administration major and African, Black, and Caribbean Studies minor, said, “I want a community based and casual structure—because I feel like a lot of creative writing courses are really assignment heavy.”

Through the fluidity and stress-free structure of this club, Bruno hopes that it will be a “space where people can be free and really be themselves.” The club is still in search of a treasurer who would handle budget and spending habits. Those interested in the club or a leadership position are urged to join. The club can be reached through their Instagram account @adelphi_cwc or found on AUlife.