If you are, then The Inkwell is looking for you.

Oakville's longest-running poetry group is changing its focus in an effort to draw new members.

The meetings, held the second Thursday of each month, will now feature one member reading selected works by two poets, followed by a general discussion. Members are then invited to share their own poetry.

The new format should appeal to poetry lovers of all types and ages, according to Elka Ruth Enola, founder and coordinator of the Oakville Poetry Alliance, of which The Inkwell is a member.

"Inkwell is a very important part of the community and it is open to everybody on every level," she said.

"If you are a very experienced poet, your input will be valued. If you've got six shoeboxes of poetry hidden in the closet that no one knows about, this is perfect because there's a lot of people here like that. Inkwell is the place many people have come for the first time to literally come out of the poetry closet."

The Inkwell formed in 1994. The group initially met at the Second Cup in downtown Oakville and later moved to Bookers Bookstore.

This was the heyday of the group, with about 10 to 15 members. Growing membership forced the group to relocate to its current home at Timothy's World Coffee on Lakeshore Road East.

"In the beginning, there wasn't really anything else (poetry groups), so everybody with any kind of interest came to Inkwell," Enola said. "What has happened since then is that there are many more groups and outlets for poetry, and people's time is limited, so they had to choose where they want to go."

As more poetry groups started to form, each with a specific focus, numbers decreased for The Inkwell. The group has seen steadily declining numbers during the past two years. Only a handful of people have come out for the last few meetings, according to Enola.

"What happened to the Inkwell is it lost its focus," she said. "The other groups each had a focus and Inkwell didn't, so it started to disintegrate."

After trying a few different activities, The Inkwell members have found a format they think will resonate with the community.

"By looking at the poetry community and what is being done, we've found something other groups aren't doing that we can do," Enola said. "We found that a lot of groups were doing their own poetry, but not reading and discussing poets."

Since the six poetry groups in the community are under an umbrella association, the Oakville Poetry Alliance, there isn't competition among the groups for members. It is about spreading the word about the various groups, so that all enjoy healthy memberships.

"If every group has a focus, then we are meeting everyone's needs," Enola said. "Some might go to one, two or all of them. This gives them a choice."

The Inkwell runs the second Thursday of each month from 7 to 9 p.m. in the upstairs lounge at Timothy's World Coffee, 129 Lakeshore Rd. E. There is a small membership fee.

Upcoming meeting dates and poets for The Inkwell are: Sept. 11 - Shakespeare and Pablo Neruda presented by Masayuki Tanabe, Oct. 9 - regular meeting, Nov. 13 - Amy Lowell and Dylan Thomas presented by Elka Ruth Enola, Dec. 11 - two poets presented by John Hastings followed by discussion of plans for Inkwell 2009.

For information on The Inkwell, e-mail group president John Hastings at ventureprise@cogeco.ca.