Elgin Community College opened its doors for a live reading to writer and poet, C.M. Burroughs, on Thursday, Sep. 20.

The Writers Center features the work of critically important authors and offers the opportunity to interact with the writers by way of these reading series.

Students and faculty members of ECC attended, and not only did they have the opportunity to listen to the author, but they also had a discussion about poetry and writing at the end of the lecture.

According to Rachael Stewart, English professor of ECC, it is expected that students who are writers will gain knowledge in how authors approach their work and to have the experience of meeting somebody who will serve as an inspiration for their own future work.

“The students can see this person as someone who’s in a place where they’d like to be someday,” Stewart said. “And that’s [the type of] inspiration that makes them work harder.”

Burroughs managed to captivate the audience by reciting several poems from her debut collection, “The Vital System” published in 2012.

“This book presents positions of vulnerability of the female body and the different sentimental relationships, and how one can fight through them to get to positions of strength,” Burroughs said.

Burroughs started writing when she was just a girl. Her penchant for poetry began thanks to the realization that it was the best way to express herself. Burroughs said that her own inspirations have been changing throughout her career as a writer, which has made her work evolve as well.

To her, these live readings are an opportunity to communicate more intimately with an audience and get a different perspective of poetry. Burroughs said that she believes people can get inspired and motivated just by sitting down and listening to the author talk.

For some students who attended, this experience was completely new.

Danielle Brown, a student at ECC, said that she had never been to poetry readings before, and this was a great opportunity to get ideas from a professional writer. She also mentioned that it was a totally different way to perceive poetry as a young writer.

“I enjoyed [the reading],” Brown said. “It’s very interesting to see how we interpret poetry. It is totally different when we read it on paper, but then when [someone says it aloud], you also hear the emotions that the poet put inside of the work.”

Burroughs said she expects these live readings will help new poets improve their skills by offering advice and answering questions any member from the audience might have.

Some advice from Burroughs is to know that the most important thing about poetry is the intention.

“For young writers, it is important that they know what they’re writing about,” Burroughs said. “You need to have intention behind your poem before you start writing it.”

The next reading will be held on Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m. in building H, room H142.