Table of Contents
Writing Etc.
At St. Lawrence right now, much writing work takes place outside the "mainstream" of traditional courses and literary magazines, in settings from poetry workshops for first-year students organizing a poetry "slam" to salon readings in the bookstore. Some examples:
They Probably Won't Write About "What I Did on My Summer Vacation"
As most students headed for jobs over the summer, 10 English majors were preparing to participate in summer programs to develop their writing skills. Laura Woltag '05, Andy Bates '04, Kelly Morris '04, Sarah Cope '05, Purnell Cropper '05 and Andrew Eitelbach '04 enrolled in the Vermont Fellows Program, which is normally for graduate students and is directed by former Viebranz Visiting Writer Robin Hemley. Said Bates at the outset, "It's a chance to live the writer's life. It will be cool to wake up and know that all that has to be done is to write."Meanwhile, three Summer Writing Fellows remained on campus and pursued a variety of topics with their English faculty mentors. Steve Peraza '06 worked with Natalia Singer and Peter Bailey, writing about gender issues. Poetry was the genre for David Welch '04 as he worked with Sarah Gates, and Anja Huising '05 worked on young adult literature under the guidance of Paul Graham '99.
Finally, Amanda Hamilton '04 attended the Sarah Lawrence Summer Writing Workshop, with support from funds administered by the English department. She studied short fiction in the small, five-day conference, preparatory to writing a novella during her senior honors project on campus. -Jessica Knapp '03
It Wasn't a Whole Lot Different from Paris in the '20s
Students gathered around the fire, some sitting on plush leather couches, while they listened to readings by fellow students in Brewer Bookstore on Friday nights last spring. The audience was captured by their words and listened intently."These readings are a celebration of the 'writes,' as we call them," Heather Sellers, Viebranz visiting professor of creative writing, said. "We shared them privately among ourselves and felt that it would be fun to share them in a public, salon-like setting."
The group practiced a method of writing called proprioceptive writing, in which "you go deep and listen to your own wise voice within," Sellers said. "I learned much from my students during those sessions." -Jessica Knapp '03
On Their Own Several
students engaged in independent and honors writing projects through the English department last year. Among them:
- Jessica Baker '04 worked on a novel she calls Nirvana According to Gillian, as a multi-semester independent project, with plans to convert it to an honors project this year. She commends Prof. Peter Bailey for his help and suggestions, even while on sabbatical. "The independent project has been one of my more fulfilling experiences at St. Lawrence," Baker said.
- Sarah Cook '03 worked with Prof. Susan Ward on an independent project in feature writing; her principal product was an in-depth article on the gay community on campus. "The extent to which the faculty go out of their way to accommodate students in their academic pursuits is unparalleled," she says.
- Not everybody has a grandfather who is a classical music composer. But Wendy Scharf '03 does. Her grandfather, Robert Washburn, is dean emeritus of the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam as well as an accomplished composer. She wrote his biography for her senior independent project. "I've always written stories about my family, so when I learned I could turn writing my grandfather's biography into an independent project, I went for it," Scharf says.
- "Once upon a time, at a college not unlike St. Lawrence, there was a girl..." could be the opening for the collection of short stories that senior Sarah Tolcser completed for her English honors project. The stories, all with a college theme, were inspired by many of her experiences at St. Lawrence. Heather Sellers became Tolcser's honors project advisor; "she taught me a lot about plot structure and the revision process," says Tolcer, who begins law school this fall.
- Next Stop, The Silver Screen: Juniors Andy Bates, Josh Wyman, and his brother Travis Wyman hadn't had enough of screenwriting after taking both screenwriting courses at St. Lawrence. So they turned their attention to independents under the guidance of Prof. Sid Sondergard. "All three are distinguished, independent individuals who leaped at the chance to create a full feature script," says Sondergard, adding that they share a unique ability to create eccentric characters and "unusual" plots. -Compiled by Jessica Knapp '03 and Jackie Roy '04