Library News & Updates

Unsung Poetry (Debut Event)

At the end of Fall Quarter the library held the inaugural Unsung Poetry event, co-hosted by Jonathan Wittmaier, Manager of the Student Resource Network and Juan Carlos Reyes, Associate Professor of Creative Writing. 

This was the first reading part of a semi-regular reading series held primarily in the Byte Cafe and Bangasser Reading Room located on the 2nd floor of the Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons. As part of the Student Resource Network and Reigniting the Strategic Directions the mission of Unsung Poetry is to bring people together through poetry, and bridge the gap between the Seattle literary arts community and the Seattle University campus community. Each event in the series will feature readings by poets from the Seattle literary community and beyond, who will share some of their own work and also the work of a lesser known “unsung poet.” The goal is to amplify marginalized voices; writers and artists who have been overlooked, forgotten, and in some cases even suppressed. 

For this first event, we began with poetry readings by three featured poets: Gabrielle Bates (a local Seattle poet), Quenton Baker (a former SU alum) and Dr. Serena Chopra (SU English faculty.) Each poet championed the work of at least one “unsung poet” and helped set the tone for what was a night full of uplifting and inspiring moments for students, staff, and faculty alike. Immediately following the featured readers, we opened the floor for our SU community with the open mic. This was open to any currently enrolled SU student or currently employed staff or faculty.  

Prof. Juan Carlos Reyes, faculty advisor to Fragments (SU’s student-run literary magazine), kicked off the open mic by sharing a short piece he penned during the event and then welcomed the first few students who had signed up online. All in all there were about 12 total open mic participants, the majority of which were SU students. Each of them shared incredibly moving pieces that were deeply felt by everyone in the audience. Kudos to all of them for being brave enough to share their creative work!

Be on the lookout for information about our next Unsung Poetry reading in the Spring Quarter 2025!  You can find more info about the reading series on the Unsung Poetry LibGuide.