Rowan University has a club called the Writing Arts Club for Rowan students who want to have a space to write freely. 

The Writing Arts Club started in 2018, and it allows students to write peacefully in a non-chaotic environment and make friends who share the same love for writing and creativity. 

The Writing Arts Club consists of 5 E-Board members, Cecilia Combs, Emily Olson, Sophia Nigro, Mia-Sara King, and Hannah Whitaker. The Club hosts meetings every Thursday from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. at Robinson Hall. If students are not able to go to the weekly meets, the club has a Discord server to chat about their work and an Instagram page for sending updates about other events on campus.

Rowan Students can get involved by submitting a piece to the Writing Arts Club zine. The club accepts art, photos, and written work. In the Writing Arts Club, there are between 10 and 15 students who actively show up to the weekly meetings. 

During the weekly meetings, the club’s E-Board gives out writing prompts for students to respond to. Not only does it let students express their writing but it allows them to gain confidence about their writing by reading their responses aloud and sharing their writing with other members of the club. 

“Ideally, members will find more confidence in their reading, reciting, and make friends with the other members who support their work,” said Cecilia Combs, president of the Writing Arts Club. 

This year the club has recently participated in a club mixer at Rowan University with other clubs such as Avant Literacy Magazine and Poetic Justice. At Rowan, the club is known to work with these organizations often to set up events throughout the semester. 

“In these events, we watch a short piece of media and then discuss the writing of it. Afterward, we created seasonally appropriate cards to donate to a senior living facility. We also made other crafts during this time to donate,” said Combs. 

The Writing Arts Club has now officially started a seasoned club event. The club recently had its first Craft and Chat event and is now planning its upcoming event for December. The club had Avant, Poetic Justice co-sponsor for both of these events. 

“Like all SGA-sponsored clubs, we also participate in and host volunteer events – our last event was a fall-themed hangout where we collaborated with other writing-related clubs to create cards and bookmarks for senior citizens in local care homes,” said Emily Olson, secretary.

The club occasionally participates in multiple service projects that allow students to be part of the club. They often participate in the Back to the Boro event at the end of the year, where they donate and advertise for the Singularity Press book sale. The club is where they can advertise for other writing arts departments at Rowan that host events and classes. 

“We invite professors and other club leaders to promote their events and classes to encourage our members to be more active in the writing opportunities on campus. Our biggest contribution to the campus is giving everyone, not just writing arts majors, a chance to write and communicate with writers,” said Combs.

“For writing arts majors specifically, it helps you connect to others in the major outside of classes, and for non-majors, it helps you build friendships with writers that you might not ever meet otherwise,” said Olson.

Being a part of the Writing Arts Club, students can build a community with other writers who uplift and support each other. The club is a way for poets, artists, and writers who are interested in telling a story.  

“We won’t force them to share anything they don’t want to, and we don’t judge them for whatever they want to work on. This is a place for them to have a chance to work on personal projects if they want to, or just relax and unwind for a bit,” said Hannah Whitaker, club senator.

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