By Emmett Tinning – Contributor

As the 2023-2024 year marches forward, my co-lead Arielle Leclerc and I were thrilled with the turnout at the first meeting of Bishop’s poetry club, Wit and Whimsy. The cozy atmosphere was complete with snacks, music, sharing and most importantly, writing. Old and new members alike quickly found common talking points. They made friendly introductions, giving us a happy kickstart into the new year ahead of us. 

Founded in the 2022-2023 school year by English student Colin Ahern and psychology student Isabelle Callan, Wit and Whimsy was nothing short of a huge success. The club met bi-weekly for brainstorming, writer’s cafés as well as other activities. They succeeded in creating a safe and creative space for Bishop’s students to admire, share and explore literary art in all its forms. Events like open mics as well as larger-scale concert-style performances complete with guest performers gave the club big shoes to fill for the year to come.

Through the useful knowledge left to us by our predecessors, Wit and Whimsy hopes to continue the tradition of an exploratory creative space at Bishop’s. It is somewhere people are free to share work, ideas, stories and thoughts, as well as create a meaningful community and a love of poetry. 

Already after the first meeting, we are discussing plans for more events resembling last year’s successes. With help from professors and mentors such as Prof. Shoshannah Bryn Jones Square, writer’s cafés, open mics and even another event similar to the inspiring “Empathy, Social Justice and the Arts” are in the works.

We discuss possibilities for further exploration and collaboration between Wit and Whimsy and other clubs, departments and organizations. There is, for example, potential for partnership with the Foreman Art Gallery’s Community ArtLab – another beautiful and thriving space devoted to the arts on campus. This partnership could include a wide variety of public art, visual poetry and more. 

Workshops from professors or guest artists also remain firm goals, as opportunities for professional feedback, advice and inspiration are incredibly valuable. For these projects to function and flourish, a wide array of students, faculty and community engagement is required. We look forward to working with a variety of people in the years to come.

We graciously thank every current member of Wit and Whimsy. We also encourage anyone with any amount of experience to inquire with us and come to our meetings to join in on the collective love of poetry.