By Kennedy Ryan Staff Writer
On Sept. 6, six members of the creative writing faculty came together in Faylor Hall to read some of their writing for students.
The writing shared varied in style and covered an array of topics.
Gary W. Fincke, professor of English, shared segments from his nonfiction and fiction stories. He read a fictional piece about a car accident involving young adolescents and a nonfiction piece called “Brevity” about a local parade. Marcus Burke, creative writing fellow, and Louie Land both read fiction stories. Burke used slang throughout the reading of his chapter “Chocolate Chip” that allowed listeners to feel the desire for his helpless love who “wore the hell out of a Sunday dress” amongst his struggles of living life as a high school athlete. Land’s writings used descriptive language to set the scene for the audience and highlighted the difficulties of being in a performance band.
The professors also gave the audience different views of cultural influence. Glen Retief, associate professor of English and creative writing, used the events of Dimitri Tsafendas’ schizophrenic murders to influence his story “Tapeworm Chronicles.” Hasanthika Sirisena, visiting lecturer in English & creative writing, read a piece from her writings titled “Letters to a Soldier” that used her personal experience of living through the war in Sri Lanka to express the feelings that the war left soldiers “scarred and alone.” Her piece had light notes of potential love and flirtation but also showed the brutality of the wartime living conditions.
Karla Kelsey, associate professor of creative writing, shared poetry about her experiences in Hungary and her opinions on the impact of music in society and culture.
One of the most influential speakers of the evening was Tom Bailey, professor of English, whose personal experiences with addiction inspired his story “Zombies.” Bailey said that he writes and shares his pieces to allow others to feel empathy, and he finds a gem of redemption through the pain of personal experience.
Many creative writing students attended the event to hear the work from their professors. Ian Rush, a junior creative writing major, said that it was reassuring to know that his professors were humans as well as teachers.
