Tuesday, October 1 at 7 p.m. marked the first Senior Reading event for the senior creative writing majors.
Six seniors read aloud pieces that they had written throughout their years in the program to a packed audience filled with family, friends and peers in the Lore Degenstein Art Gallery. The eye-catching Godzilla piece by Art and Design professor, Jimmy Henderson, that was featured as part of the Art and Design Faculty Show loomed over the seniors as they read.
The pieces spanned from a variety of genres. The reading started off with Haley Dittbrenner, or Hal, which is their pen name. They work for both the Gingko Magazine as well as the Blough-Weis Library. Dittbrenner started out their reading with a trigger warning saying, “Apocalypses… I write ‘em and I write ‘em good.” Their advice for future creative writing students was, “Write your stories and make your art for, at most, thirty dorks at a time. Including yourself. Mass market appeal is overrated; be weird and unconventional and unapologetically so.”
The next reader was Rachel Eck. She read from 2 of her flash-fiction pieces as well as an excerpt from a short story she is writing. Her pieces moved the audience with the harsh realities of motherhood. Eck’s writing advice was, “Sometimes a piece of work needs to be put down and not looked at for months, but remember it is there to go back to and always ready for revision.”
Then, for some more apocalyptic fiction, Toni Momodu read from their piece “The Black Cloud.” Momodu said, “Don’t shy away from something messy, raw, or even a little crazy. Sometimes, our most ‘imperfect’ work can lead to something exceptional. Create from the chaos. Write that screenplay, script, or comic sketch. You never know where it might take you.”
Colleen Hueting was the next reader of the night. She was credited with being the only Creative Writing and Math double major that her professors had ever seen. She read an emotional piece from her memoir about her family and struggles with mental health. “Write when you want, because you love it, and to answer your questions,” was the writing advice that Hueting gave.
Then, to lighten the mood, the penultimate reader Leanne McElroy read excerpts from two short stories. One featured a protagonist that had been shrunk by their own invention. The story had a light-hearted tone, and McElroy had a writing style that was described by her professors as “cinematic.” To future writers McElroy says, “Just write. Just go. No page is wasted, it’s all part of growing. Every finished work or lovely painting was once a crappy first draft, first canvas, first stain on a wall or mud on your shoe, tea spilled on a napkin. Save all of your ideas, even the ones you hate.”
Finally, Stefani Leonard read an excerpt from her memoir titled “Chameleon” about her personal struggles with her anxiety, highlighting pivotal and emotional experiences in her life. Her writing style was described by her professors as introspective and insightful. When asked how it felt to be here, at her senior reading just a few weeks until her graduation date in December, she said, “It feels scary and surreal because you’ve been spending all this time working on your project and your craft and now it’s over.”
Leonard’s piece of advice to future writers was, “The first draft is never the final draft. You’re going to write stories you hate, dislike, semi-dislike, and respect. Be patient with the process. The process, no matter how frustrating, is the art.”
Throughout the semester, there will be three more Senior Readings- all in the Lore Degenstein Art Gallery.