SAM KNEPPRATH | STAFF REPORTER

It was a cool Friday afternoon. The leaves were stirring around in a pool of oranges and maroons. The sun was comfortably nestled in the clouds, and from within the Efroymson Center for Creative Writing bellowed good soup, good poetry and most of all good tidings.

This was just one of the continually growing number of meetings for Butler University’s own Poetry Lunch Hour.

Started in 2013 by MFA program administrator Mindy Dunn due to “a dire need to talk about poetry in a more casual environment,” the lunch hour is very much akin to any other literature club, but with its own brand of idiosyncrasies that make the entire afternoon a joyous romp into the realm of poetry, she said.

While the Efroymson Center quietly sits on the corner adjacent to Ross Hall and the police station, the shy brick and mortar exterior only amplifies the wondrous space that inhabits it.

Surrounding this particular meeting there were around 12 participants, each with a different background. In dealing with turn-out size, however, the lunch hour has seen a fluctuation from as little as five to upwards of 20 Butler students, professors, administrators and affiliates.

Attendees of the Poetry Lunch Hour event at the Efromyson Creative Writing Center. Photo by Lauren Biolsi

Special guests only come sporadically while the majority of the club is based on discussion of published collections of work.

Despite the fact that we’ve all had to struggle through a group discussion in class in which regurgitation of quotes and themes are done simply for a grade without much thought, the poetry club truly changes your perspective on what a literary discussion can be. Jokes are made, laughs are had and the whole ordeal feels less of an assignment and furthermore like a mingling between compatriots.