It wasn’t happy hour at the Columns Hotel Tuesday night, but the college students who gathered there were still ready to relax and enjoy the evening.

College students crowded into the St. Charles Avenue hotel to celebrate the new literary year with a new campus organization.

The new group, named 1718, is a literary series created and directed by Loyola and Tulane University students or self-proclaimed “literary geeks”. The group’s debut event drew a larger crowd than anticipated as a result of its growing buzz in the New Orleans literary scene, organizers said.

According to Kaitlyn Ketchum, 1718 co-director and Loyola English writing junior, the reading series is a “shot of youth” to the New Orleans literary scene.

“New Orleans is a literary city with a strong scene but lacks a presence of young people. It always baffled me,” Ketchum said.

Ketchum credited Loyola professors such as Martin Pousson for inspiring her to create the series as well as assisting her in making it a reality. “We wanted to create something that was more than just an on-campus, student literary exchange. It’s not just a Loyola thing because we are focusing on our potential to grow across this city and have our events in various venues,” Ketchum said.

New Orleans native and acclaimed author Christine Wiltz headlined the night’s readings and was joined by four student poets.

In 2000, the New Orleans/Gulf South Booksellers Association awarded Wiltz’s first non-fiction book, “The Last Madame: A Life in the New Orleans Underworld,” book of the year. The Last Madame chronicled the life of French Quarter bordello owner Norma Wallace.

When asked to participate in the reading series Wiltz immediately responded by asking, “What is 1718?”

1718 shares its namesake with the year New Orleans was founded. “I think it (1718) is a great idea. We really need to bring everyone together to discuss what the city is, has been and will be through the eyes of prominent writers,” Wiltz said.

Kathy Martinez can be reached at [email protected].