Expressionists’ adviser John Struloeff reads his poem “Malibu Canyon Tunnel” in the Intercultural Affairs Lounge on March 13. Seven students performed, and Struloeff was the only professor to attend and share. Photos by Faith Oh
Tucked away in the Intercultural Affairs lounge on the first floor of the HAWC, the Expressionists Coffeehouse welcomed students to an evening of poetry reading, conversation and refreshments.
Senior Sophie Collins is the editor of Expressionists, a literary magazine that compiles student submissions of art, poetry and prose every year. Collins coordinated the Coffeehouse event where about 18 students of various majors gathered to listen and share their creative works.
John Struloeff, Expressionists’ adviser and professor of Creative Writing and English and director of Creative Writing, said the Expressionists magazine has 52 volumes. Students and faculty contributed to publishing the magazine since the early 1970s, according to the Expressionists website.
“It’s a great opportunity for people from all kinds of backgrounds to come together and really appreciate and share their writing with each other,” Struloeff said.
Students and Struloeff either signed up beforehand or took the opportunity to share during the open mic portion of the evening.
Expressionists Coffeehouse by Faith Oh ‘student’The infographic lists the poems and poets who performed for Coffeehouse in the Intercultural Affairs Lounge on March 13. There were a total of eight pieces shared. Infographic by Faith Oh
Senior Annabella Nordlund is on the Expressionists staff and said she participated in the event because she wanted to share her work and support the team.
Nordlund said her poem, “The Tile,” was about a speaker who observes a tile on the ground.
“They’re ascribing emotions to it and basically envying the tile because of its anonymity and how it’s an inanimate object,” Nordlund said. “And they have their own emotions that they’re dealing with and then project that onto the tile.”
Sophomore Alyssa Johnson also participated in Coffeehouse, reading her poem “Demons Talking” which she said was still a work in progress. She said her poem was a religious rumination with many individual lines that were meaningful to her.
Johnson said she had been part of the Coffeehouse last year in the Amphitheatre. She said this community is important to her because it is a place of vulnerability and honoring people’s work.
“The creative process is really private, so it’s just kind of nice to bring it into this space,” Johnson said.
Several Coffeehouse attendees simply came to enjoy and listen to the poetry performances, including sophomore Lorenzo Mars who heard about Coffeehouse from one of his friends on the Expressionists staff. He said he wanted to go and listen to the creative pieces.
“I love all types of writing,” Mars said. “I’ve dabbled in poetry, but I kind of moved away from it recently, and I kind of wanted to get back into it.”
Another attendee, sophomore Lillian Fong said she enjoys hearing people’s work and hanging out at Coffeehouse and had some experience writing fiction and poetry.
Fong also said she had been to a couple Coffeehouse events in the past and was on the Expressionists staff last year.
“Coffeehouse gives people an opportunity to share their great work in a kind of lower-stakes environment,” Collins said. “It’s more comfortable so people can feel free to bring their work from whenever they did it.”
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Email Faith Oh: faith.oh@pepperdine.edu
