Xiangru Chen
Members of Quivira roast marshmallows for s’mores before reading original and classic works on Tuesday night at Wilson Park. Quivira has hosted a Halloween themed event for the past three years.
On this year’s 35 degree Halloween night, 16 students sat in a circle on the ledge of a stone fire pit about 10 feet in diameter in Wilson Park. Some wore costumes while others huddled in warm coats and jackets. They roasted marshmallows, drank hot chocolate and gazed through the gray smoke at their friends, listening intently as they took turns reading spooky stories and poems.
Quivira, a student-run literary organization, has sponsored a Spooky Stories Night around Halloween for the past few years, according to Zachary Palmer, Quivira president and junior interdisciplinary studies major. Students at the event read original works, works by famous spooky authors and told their own personal scary stories.
Isabelle Rawley, sophomore secondary English education major, read an original poem titled ‘Nary a Whisper.’
“I think I like the mystery and the buildup of them (scary stories),” Rawley said.
A short story titled ‘The Bench,’ written by Amanda Mechtley, graduate English major, was also read for the group.
“This was based off of the prompts, the scary photos that we were looking at,” Mechtley said.
Palmer helped the group prepare for the night by holding workshops on how to write spooky stories.
“For my seminar project in Creative Writing, I studied to try and master the craft of suspense,” Palmer said. “I studied four Stephen King books, the entire collection of Edgar Allan Poe and a couple Dean Koontz novels just trying to see what the best do, and try and get to that level.”
During these workshops, the writers looked at prompts such as images of abandoned cars or amusement parks and attempted to write stories about those places, according to Palmer.
“Another prompt we did was six-word short scary stories,” Palmer said. “Wrapping up the entirety of a spooky story with just six words was pretty difficult, but really interesting to see what people would come up with.”
Any student can join Quivira regardless of major, according to Palmer.
“It’s always interesting to see students from different backgrounds and what they bring to the table,” Palmer said. “The more diversity, the more interesting the night gets.”
During meetings, members often use prompts to write creative works, but they can also work on other aspects of being a writer such as learning how to perform these works and speak in front of a crowd, according to Palmer.
“We had Dr. (Kevin) Rabas, our Kansas Poet Laureate (and chair of the English, modern languages and journalism department), come visit us and teach us some microphone etiquette and how to speak in front of a crowd,” Palmer said. “It’s not just writing, but how to use your writing as well.”
The club also helps students from the Emporia Middle School publish their works in a small journal, and assists students at Strong City Elementary School with developing their writing.
“They’ve got various characters and stories they’re working on, so we just show up and talk about what they’re working on and help out,” Palmer said.
Quivira holds weekly meetings at 8 p.m. Tuesday nights on the 3rd floor of Plumb Hall.