Members of the University of Arkansas 鈥� Fort Smith campus community were able to give unique and thoughtful gifts to their valentines this year thanks to students from the university's Applause literary magazine.
Five students wrote custom Valentine鈥檚 Day poems on request from AV抖阴 students, faculty and staff to raise money for the literary magazine. The literary students gathered information from requestors before typing short poems on typewriters set up in the Campus Center.
鈥淲e are working to promote a literary community in Fort Smith, and that includes community literary readings, and high school writing workshops,鈥� said Cheyenne Fletcher of Warner, Okla., editor of Applause. 鈥淏ut sometimes it鈥檚 nice to just do very casual projects like this that are not only fun for us, but gets students, staff and faculty engaged as well.鈥�
鈥淎 staff member鈥檚 father, for instance, works on campus and stopped by the table to have a valentine written for his wife,鈥� Fletcher added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty amazing to see our work going into families like that. It鈥檚 fun to see our hard work in the classroom make the community happy.鈥�
This was the third year Applause had held the fundraiser on campus according to Fletcher, who helped conceptualize the idea three years before in an effort to increase campus engagement and raise awareness of Applause.
鈥淲e found that this project not only helped raise money for our journal but also increased our visibility to other students,鈥� she said.
While writing poems on the fly can be challenging, the Applause students were able to work together on poems and feed off each other鈥檚 ideas, Fletcher said.
鈥淚deas make more ideas, and working together helps us see what we鈥檝e learned together and how we can keep encouraging each other,鈥� Fletcher said. 鈥淭he communal energy is exciting; it鈥檚 what writing is about.鈥�
Students writing Valentine鈥檚 Day poems were:
Fort Smith: Lissa Brooks, Jade Stenger and Krystal Summers.
Van Buren: Jamie Fore.
Warner, Okla.: Cheyenne Fletcher.
Applause is published each spring and includes original poetry and fiction by AV抖阴 students. Applause is a registered student organization that also offers a one credit-hour course for students to earn editorial and community networking opportunities.
For more information about Applause, contact Dr. Christian Gerard, assistant professor of English, at 479-788-7560 or Christian.gerard@uafs.edu.
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