A group of students is spearheading an initiative to revive Peddie’s Creative Writing Club and build a fresh community of writers and readers.
Inactive since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the club has made an explosive return to the Peddie community this year under the leadership of Co-Presidents Isabella Lam ʼ26, Ophelia Ni ʼ26 and Bryan Zhao ʼ27; Vice-President Sophie Wang ʼ27 and Secretary Chloe Yang ʼ27. They are supported by Faculty Advisor Ms. Wood, who is also the director of Peddie’s Creative Writing Signature Experience program.
Now, with only a month of the school year under their belt, the club boasts over 60 members on Club Hub — Peddie’s official platform for club activities — and has laid the foundation for consistent meetings, which they hope to hold every week. Fall meetings will alternate between prompt-based activities and work sessions, giving members opportunities to stimulate creativity, collaborate with peers and develop specific pieces.
The club also strives to provide support for students who wish to submit to competitions and publications and apply for programs. Leaders plan to raise awareness about various submission opportunities via the club’s Club Hub ‘Announcements’ page as well as facilitate peer revision activities.
On September 23, during DMX, around two dozen students gathered in Efros Auditorium for the club’s introductory meeting. They were guided through an “exquisite corpse” activity: a collaborative poetry exercise that challenges writers to tell a story one line at a time, with only the previous line for context.
Access to a compilation of the poems created during the session was shared on Instagram, along with a sentiment summing up a big takeaway from the exercise. “The results go to show that you don’t necessarily have to write cohesively or perfectly to produce creative writing!” the caption states.
During that first meeting, Chloe Yang ’27, who also serves as the club’s resident baker in addition to Secretary, treated the attendees to artisanal homemade chocolate chip cookies. The club is committed to offering snacks at each meeting; this adds to the relaxed and welcoming atmosphere that the leaders are hoping to cultivate.
“Our main goals are to get more people interested in creative writing and to provide a space where people can write judgement-free and [feel] free to express themselves,” said Co-President Bryan Zhao ʼ27. “We had a group of people passionate about creative writing, and we really wanted to spread availability to other people who also are interested,” he said.
