Tech Poetry Society: O’ Poet, My Poet

Poets enter the room

Spoken word, rap and prose

Bring life to the artists

This verse describes the Tech Poetry Society, founded to bring creative minds together. Anyone with a GPA of 2.5 or higher and enrolled in at least 12 credit hours can join.

Paul Feyisetan, the society’s president, said he and a friend attended an English department poetry event, which sparked their interest in cstarting a poetry group.

“They have these events, but there’s not a place to talk about it, analyze, share, support, so we were like, ‘Why not create that,’” Feyisetan said.

Emily Latham, a friend of Feyisetan, said she was surprised to find out poetry was among his interests.

“Paul is one of those people that’s just not a cookie-cutter person,” Latham said. “It’s like you turn around and he’s always surprising you.”

She also described him as a creative spirit who wants to give people the opportunity to express themselves.

“I think that it’s cool that he’s created this kind of ‘Breakfast Club‘-like organization that anyone can come to and express themselves,” Latham said. “He’s just a very open person and very accepting—very creative.”

According to the society’s OrgSync account, its purpose is to “foster, develop, and promote the creative manifestations that we sometimes obscure within ourselves. It shall serve as a positive, constructive environment for students to feel comfortable to express themselves and what they create.”

Feyisetan began writing and performing poetry in high school, where he was encouraged to pursue his newfound talent.

“I’ve always been an artsy dude,” Feyisetan said. “I used to draw pictures when I was a kid, but I didn’t really get into poetry until high school. We had a talent show, and I didn’t know I had a talent, so I was like let me write something and then people liked it.”

The goal of the poetry society extends beyond showcasing poetic art forms, according to Feyisetan.

“It’s to unite creative spirits, not just poets,” he said. “The arts I feel like is what we live for. We live our lives, we go to work, but we survive for the things that are beautiful in this world.”

Tech Poetry Society member Alejandro Martinez credits Feyisetan with encouraging the group’s members to overcome any fear of expressing themselves.

“He really motivates us to step up in front of the mic and say what we want, and don’t be afraid to say what we want,” Martinez said.

Feyisetan said feeling safe is the key to such expression.

“I hope they find a place to feel comfortable where they can share something they can’t talk to their friends or their girlfriend about,” Feyisetan said. “I hope that they can come to Tech Poetry Society meetings and know that this is a safe place– that this is a place where they need to let it out, to share whatever creative manifestation that may exist within them.”