Poets and writers took the stage to promote UCA’s literary magazine, The Vortex, at The Locals coffee shop in downtown Conway from 6-7 p.m. Feb. 25.
The Vortex Magazine is a collection of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, scripts, short films, photography, art and music put together by students.
The magazine releases multiple issues throughout the semester.
UCA students contribute all the works published in the magazine.
The Vortex hosted the reading to give people a taste of what type of work to expect in the magazine.
Many staff members presented work from the latest issue.
Readers for the evening were senior Tre Sandlin, senior Savannah Moix, senior Kayelin Roberts, senior Chase Night, senior Sara Cervantes, senior Candace Baker, freshman Julia Pistole, senior Taylor Hicks and nonstudents Blake Allen and Bethany Hollis.
Some readers presented their own poetry and others read poems by inspiring authors, parts of scripts or short stories.
Each piece offered a wide variety of interest. Some were personal experiences and others were completely fictional, while some were a combination of the two.
Senior script editor Sandlin said attendees were going to see a lot of talented people he didn’t think they would expect to see in Central Arkansas.
“Tonight we saw a gay romance young adult [story]based in the south,” he said. “That’s pretty cool. I don’t think people would expect that. You’re seeing a lot more variety than you would expect to see out of the students.”
The evening’s attendees experienced more than just written art at the venue.
The Locals is a coffee shop and retail space for local goods that also hosts workshops, live music performances, co-working and other special events.
The Locals features many local products made or grown by local farmers, artists, crafters and other makers.
“We want to branch out and try to get all the local community places involved,” Sandlin said. “We want to bring a lot of people towards The Locals. We love these venues that promote a community that appreciates art.”
Senior art editor Shane Hawkins said the magazine usually hosts readings every month.
“We like to meet off campus in public places like this,” he said.
Vortex editor-in-chief Hicks said, ”We’re going to have a launch party in April [at The Locals][to]get [the word out about]the print edition.”
Progress on the print edition is underway. A current edition is available online.
Viewers can read The Vortex at thevortexmagazine.com. The website also contains more information about the magazine and events as well as a place to submit work.
The Vortex posts upcoming events to its Facebook page, facebook.com/vortexmagazine.
