Writers are back to sharing their pieces with the community at Superior Culture after spending two years away due to the pandemic.

Superior’s event “Electric Words and Music” is held periodically where music and stories are shared with those who sit in.

Superior Culture, a local taproom located on Third Street, is one of the many venues that supports live performances where bands and performers put on shows for Marquette.

Sierra Fanale, senior psychology major, read a few of her poems at a recent performance on Feb. 3 that shared her feelings during her time spent alone throughout the pandemic.

She was invited by former English instructor, Ronnie Ferguson, after submitting one of her poems to him for general feedback.

“[Ferguson] had called me and said, ‘Hey, this is pretty good. You write poetry? We do this event and you should speak sometime.’ So I did,” Fanale said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fanale said that her writing has been affected negatively by her own procrastination. With events being canceled and feeling mentally at a low with social disconnecting, she said it was easier to just lay in bed.

“Every weekend there was something going on. Everybody was so comfortable having strangers in their house just to show a song or two, especially here [at Superior Culture], you could have packed this place in but now there’s a body count, which was never a thing before,” Fanale said.

Fanale said that needing to limit the number of people that are able to come into Superior is not great but she understands that it is necessary to follow COVID guidelines.

“There are people waiting outside in line trying to get in, because we’ve reached capacity for COVID guidelines and it sucks but it’s necessary,” Fanale said.

Ferguson said the pandemic has affected writers as a whole. Themes such as sickness, isolation and death come up in writing because writers are faced with these themes more, he added.

“I think it’s influenced people unconsciously. If you go through a breakup, you’re probably going to start writing some heartbroken songs,” Ferguson said. “It’s just kind of what’s going to come out here or whatever.”

While the pandemic has affected many people in a negative way, Ferguson said that it has led to appreciating life and valuing social outings.

“The next time we are in person again, I think people are just going to combust from happiness,” Ferguson said. “Being able to be around people with no masks on and get close so our cheeks can touch. I think about that a lot.  I hope that a lot but it’s not guaranteed any more than it’s guaranteed that any of us are going to wake up tomorrow morning.”

Superior Culture hosts many events weekly at the taproom. For upcoming events check out its website under events for more information. The taproom is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday through Saturday noon to midnight, Sunday noon to 6 p.m. and closed on Mondays.

Those looking to share their own pieces of writing can contact Superior Culture via its website or Ferguson via email at [email protected].