On Oct. 23, I interviewed Reet Gohar, the two-year president of South Spoken, our school-wide literary club. Gohar kindly took time from her busy schedule to meet with me, answering the questions I provided to her in the following interview.
To start, I asked Gohar what being part of the club involved. Gohar responded, “We are not just a writing club, we do…poetry, short fiction, screenwriting, art, music competition, whatever you could think of with a creative mind. [South Spoken is] really a good place to get people together and make…[art] with each other.”
One of the longest-standing clubs at Wheaton Warrenville South, Gohar takes steps to increase accessibility in response to a heightened student workload: “We are working on making our literary magazine widely available and getting a wider range of viewers. We are a super low stress and low commitment club because a lot of members are involved in many activities.”
While still participating in a bevy of literary contests, South Spoken strives to stay rooted in collaboration, not competition. “[We] take every opportunity we get to participate in competitions…to put ourselves out there as much as we can so that we’re less afraid of sharing our work…We are all there to help each other get better…”
Lastly, I asked Gohar what advice she would give to a new member hoping to get involved in the club. Gohar replied, “Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there…nobody else in the club is here to judge you. Just write something that you would…be proud of and have fun doing it. It doesn’t have to be good, it just has to be a start…We are all here to help you and have a good time together.”
Overall, this was an extremely enlightening interview that gave me new insight and perspective on the club. If you want to join South Spoken we recommend you to join the google classroom with the following code: 5HVSNRA, where they communicate meeting times and events. For more information, check out the South Spoken Literary Magazine, Instagram Page, or email [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected].
