Sharpening Senses through UIISoreNyastra

Yogyakarta—UIISoreNyastra, a poetry reading event, has attracted attention from members of the Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII) community. Lecturers, education staffs and students enthusiastically took part in this inaugural session that was held at the North Hall of the university’s Mohammad Hatta Building on Friday, 24 March 2023.

This reading of poetry on “Humans and Religion” is part of the university’s mission to preserve the culture and promote literature and art within UII. Poetry readers read their best work with enthusiasm and high spirits. There were at least 30 UII members that read their poetry until the event ended at 5 pm.

Up to 76 people attended the event, consisting of 38 students, 10 education staffs, 27 lecturers and one alumna. After the event, the poetry readers sent their works to the organizing committee for the creation of a digital book of poetry.

UII Rector Prof. Fathul Wahid, S.T., M.Sc., Ph.D. welcomed this poetry reading initiative and praised the enthusiasm of the participants. “This is a cultural experiment that apparently has never existed since I started at UII in 1997. I hope this is a good start to something great,” said Prof. Fathul Wahid.

“I see that there’s great interest from the academic community. Insya Allah [God willing], we will keep the enthusiasm alive and repeat the event every month,” he said.

According to Prof. Fathul Wahid, poetry has deep meanings and significance for human beings. He also expressed his hopes for the UIISoreNyastra event going forward.

“We hope that this could be an effort to sharpen our senses, because poetry is not just a string of words, but they can also spark new understandings if truly enjoyed and appreciated,” he said.

“We hope that this is part of our collective effort to be more fluid at UII, to reduce our rigidity and tense,” he said. “We also hope for the emergence of more similar spaces for interactions at UII that promote other activities.” (VIP Magazine Vol 10)