Kent State has been a community that focuses on promoting art practices and honoring creative endeavors for many years. The creative writing community at Kent State has continued to expand, providing opportunities for both experienced and new writers. 

• The Gaston Prentice House, which holds the Wick Poetry Center, is one of the places that connects students with the creative writing community in and around Kent.
• Wick provides weekly workshops titled Wick Weekly that are held Fridays at 1 p.m. These workshops focus on using the “Wick method” while sharing poetry in a supportive element.
• The Wick Poetry Center is also launching a project called “The Art of Seeing: Reflections on Art Through Poetry” on Feb. 19. The launch of this project will feature a Zoom conversation with the artist of the collection, Jessica Damen, and an in-person tour of the collection. The event will take place in the Center for the Visual Arts room 140 at 6:30 p.m.
• Wick is holding a poetry reading on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. with Dimitri Reyes who has three published poetry collections, “Papi Pichón,” “Shadow Work for Poets” and “Every First and Fifteenth.”
• Crayfish, a magazine run by Charlie Malone and recent KSU graduate Bella Kaufman, is preparing for its first print issue to be published soon.
• Luna Negra, another one of Kent State’s literary magazines, has opened up for submissions until March 12 for the spring print edition. They accept poetry, fiction, nonfiction, photography, fashion design, sculpture, graphic art and other art forms.
• Last Exit, a coffee shop in Downtown Kent, holds poetry readings every third Friday of the month. To find more information on their future readings, they’re updated on their Facebook page.
• There is also a new magazine called Ko | AD, started in Kent for architecture and design students.

Haymaker Literary Journal, the graduate literary journal on campus, has received and published its first printed collection of poems. They are looking to open submissions for their second issue in the coming weeks. Anne Garwig Lucas is the managing editor and co-founder of Haymaker.

“It’s been a long journey to get to this point. The first basically eight months were spent convincing various people in departments to let us exist and to help us,” Garwig Lucas said. “We had good luck and a lot of strong support from the English department so far.”  

Haymaker Literary Journal is looking to become an annually printed journal through Kent State. 

“Having the first issue done makes it feel like [Haymaker] can be something that will stick around and become a fixture at Kent State,” Garwig Lucas said. 

Brainchild, the honors undergraduate literary magazine, is preparing to publish its print edition in the student media spring cycle. It can be expected around the end of March.

Marisa Bennett, a junior english major through the Kent-Stark campus, is the editor-in-chief of Brainchild this year. 

“It is so good to give honors undergraduate students a place to be their own,” Bennett said. “It gives an opportunity to let their voices be heard more frequently and with more certainty.” 

Brainchild is on its twelfth edition this year and typically takes submissions from Midwest honors undergraduate students. 

“I’m really proud to work with Brainchild,” Bennett said. “Getting to see some recognition from other campuses and all around the Midwest, especially with the Wick Poetry House, it creates a sense of community.” 

Brainchild also has a new podcast that is co-hosted by Eloise Bennett, a senior double major in anthropology and art history. 

“[The podcast] is meant to make space and amplify voices that maybe haven’t been heard before,” Bennett said. “We are really trying to give exposure to young creators.” 

The podcast is in partnership with Black Squirrel Radio and the first episode will be published in the coming weeks. 

“I feel like I’ve really been able to be a part of the creative community more than I ever have been,” Bennett said. “I’m really hoping that that extends to our viewers.” 

The Brainchild Podcast is meant to be an easy entry point into what is a very vibrant community, Bennett said. It provides information about events, submission dates and how to get involved in the creative writing community.

The creative writing community around the Kent State area provides students and community members with opportunities to hone their writing skills and share their work.