USCA students form poetry club

The Guild of Poetic Intent: Savannah River Poets, a newly formed club on the USC Aiken campus, is welcoming new members and will present a collection of its work on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Cafe Rio Blanco.

The group meets on Fridays at 1:30 p.m. in the Humanities and Social Sciences building.

It began from a combination of Roy Seeger, USCA English instructor and poet, and students. Alesha Jones, the group's president, and Seeger suggested the idea of starting a club during a contemporary poetry class to see if their was interest.

Nearly 20 students gather each week to discover new poets, share their own poetry and socialize. The common thread among the diverse group of students is their passion for poetry.

"My vision for this poetry group is for us to be able to come together and express ourselves freely through words," said Jones. "In the future, I would like for our organization to not only be well known on campus but throughout the county."

The weekly meetings follow a relaxed format. Typically the group begins with Jones introducing two new poets of the day followed by workshops, discussions and sharing.

"We also talk about how poetry can be related to things that we go through, meaning that we have activities that explain how poetry can be similar to acting, when performing your poems. We also write poems as if we are someone else and read poems from that perspective," she said.

The group was recently accepted as an official USCA club. Among the group's goals is to impact the campus and the local community.

"The Guild of Poetic Intent: Savannah River Poets is an organization that was created by inspired student poets and professors at the University of South Carolina. We want to make a mark in the county as well as on campus ... so watch out for us," said Jones.

The Guild of Poetic Intent: Savannah River Poets will hold its first public poetry reading on Wednesday. The members of the group will perform poems from the Ying Yang J and introduce the audience to slam poetry, as well as share some of their own work.

"We want to show the Cafe Rio Blanco crowd what its means to be a poet, while also introducing them to slam poetry," Jones said.

Contact Rachel Johnson at rjohnson@aikenstandard.com.