While living in a community with so many student voices, opportunities to hear them are always more than necessary. Fulcrum, Hamline’s literary arts journal, hosted an open mic event  on Nov. 14 at 6:00 p.m. that allowed students to express themselves by performing their own personal written work.

The event began with students performing their written work in front of an audience. Bailey Winden, sophomore and Fulcrum’s design editor, explained how this event was beneficial in more ways than just expression. 

“It’s a great way for people to share their work and practice reading in front of others in order for them to gain confidence and try out their new poems on people to see how they react,” Winden said. 

After some time passed and students began to slow down on performing their own personal pieces, Winden told us how the event went a different direction. 

“When not a ton of people had poems to read, we ended up reading our favorites from last year’s journal and some of the poems read were written by others in the room which I think was very flattering to them,” Winden said.

Junior and Fulcrum event planner Austen Eberhardt dedicated much of his time making this event come to life through scheduling and communication. Eberhardt discussed the team’s purposes for hosting this event. 

“The Open Mic was both to kick off our open submissions period for this year’s journal and to showcase some of the tremendous work featured in last year’s issue,” Eberhardt said. 

With such a successful event, there were many favorite moments held by attendees. Alejandra Rivera Rios, first-year and Fulcrum’s social media manager, stated that one of her favorite parts of the event was the safe space that was made for all writers in the room. 

Elena Laskowski, sophomore and the literary editor of the Fulcrum, mentioned her favorite moments as well. 

“Getting to hear what other writers have been working on. It’s very inspiring, and it encouraged me to read some of my stuff aloud as well,” Laskowski said. “The Fulcrum staff strive to provide a welcoming, safe space for people to share their art and connect with other creatives on campus. It can be scary to share personal work, but insanely empowering to do it in a room of people who understand the passion and pain inherent in the creative process.”

Laskowski had one last thing she wanted people to know. 

“Submit to the Fulcrum! We accept poetry, prose and visual art. This is a low-stakes opportunity to gain experience submitting to journals and possibly get your work published. Even if your piece isn’t chosen, we offer permissioned feedback that might help you strengthen your work for next time. Submissions will be open until February 17. We can’t wait to see what you create,” said Laskowski.

The Fulcrum team has been very successful in creating a safe space not only for people to express themselves through work, but for people to grow skills and learn about new opportunities to be involved around campus.

Students can submit to the Fulcrum by emailing fulcrumjournal@hamline.edu with their work.