Two former Columbia joined around 28 current students, teachers and other former students of the Eflyymson Creative Writing Reading Series event in The Hive on Wednesday March 12 to share advice for aspiring writers and their published work.
The crowd gathered around the intimate scene of the hive and listened carefully to Lor ClincyA graduate in 2024 of the Creative Writing MFA program, shared extracts from its first collection of poetry “Resolve”. Jeff HoffmanWho received his MFA in 2019, shared sections of his second novel “Like It Never City”. Reading was then followed by a session of questions and answers led by Alexis Pridethe director of higher education programs.
The Efroymson Reading series is organized by the School of Communication and Culture and invites prestigious writers of Chicago to share their work and get involved with current students. Over the past four years, the series has invited award-winning authors and writers with different styles and disciplines, including poetry, fiction and non-fiction work. The series organizes several events throughout the year and former students are regularly invited to share their stories after their stay in Columbia.
Monet LewisAn adult in senior creative writing, attended the event with his class and said that she liked to be in a space “so that readers and writers meet and listen and hear other people to share their work.” She said it is important to know that these opportunities to connect with creatives are available on campus, especially for the large number of writers in the room.
“Writing is a outlet”, Lewis said. “If writing is this point of sale, you have to know, you have to talk about it and must be shared. I think it should be something that encourages future writers or future people interested in creative writing. »»
While readers shared their intimate work, some people in the crowd closed their eyes to fully take the words. Charly HEBERA major in senior creative writing, said that the diversity of written work that was shared maintained it involved in conversation and readings.
“There was poetry, non-fiction, memories and fiction in its most true form, like a novel,” she said. “I think that having this perspective, as how different the two readers were in terms of what they publish, was really good, especially for a piece filled with so many different types of writers.”
Cliccy Collection of poetry discussed his grief experiences in his childhood Hoffman Extracts have highlighted the construction of characters and the themes in its history. During the last 30 minutes of the event, the writers have used the questions and answers to discuss their creative processes, how they develop their voice and how to manage a writing calendar after obtaining the diploma. Although their writing styles and their content are different, the two guest speakers were invested in the inspiration of the next generation of writers.
“I hope people were inspired to write,” Click said. “People were inspired by authentic and protruding stories because it is the engine of life: narration. It is at the origin of everything, every good thing that we know is the narration. »»
Hoffman discussed the process of writing long parts and the importance of writing before worrying about logistics. It was something he learned in his time in Columbia who continues to follow him in his writing process.
“The first drafts are nothing more than a starting point,” Hoffman said. “First drafts, you cannot worry about the style and you cannot worry about the voice and you cannot worry about the structure. You are lucky sometimes, but you simply lie down by four that you are going to build a house afterwards.
The event allowed current students and aspiring writers to see the diversity of the style and processes of an author. Click obtained her diploma last year and said that she was linked to the feeling of uncertainty with regard to work after university, and wanted students to see what is available to them.
“They can see all these different possibilities,” she said. “Everyone’s career has not the same appearance, we all have different trajectories.”
Some students in the crowd took notes on the advice given by the guest speakers. Shaymaa AtwaAn adult in Junior creative writing, attended several reading events similar to the Efroymson series and had a page full of notes at the end of the event. She said it was advantageous to see what was possible as a major writing major.
“It’s a bit scary to think once we have graduated,” she said. “How do you carry out these projects when you have a full-time job? … It is really important to see that it is possible, that others have done so and to have an overview of the way they did.”
In the q & r part of the night, Click underlined the importance of taking the time to work on creative pieces while balancing another full -time job. She said it was difficult to do it for each writer, but passion behind work should attract the motivation to write.
“Coherence is important,” Click said. “Passion can take you so far, discipline is where it is. You have to engage in your creative process.
Haber said it was useful to see Columbia writers and their success in their work, even if they balance life after obtaining the diploma. She said it was important to hear other writers relating to the difficulty of finding time to write as a person who also has trouble doing it.
“When I see them publish their work, continuing the writing apart from perhaps their typical career, I think it may be a possibility for me too even if poetry and writing are not necessarily the greatest things in my life”, ” Haber said.
Towards the end of the discussion, the two guest speakers spoke of the importance of writing for themselves. As they develop their voice in their writing, they said that the best way to maintain the value of a room is to use writing as an outlet to their advantage in front of an audience.
“For poets, you know, our voices are really important and sometimes have the opportunity is enough,” Click said. “But I don’t write for a specific audience: I write for me. First of all, I write for my inner child, then I write for women and others, I think it could really benefit from what I say. “”
The students left with more information on the lifestyle of a writer and how to maintain their motivation after obtaining the diploma. Atwa said one of the greatest things that have set themselves with it from their advice is “taking creative risks”. She said that participation in the event helped her in writing in writing and inspired her to be daring in her work, even if it is not for the publication.
“”I think it can be really frightening to write things that, in your opinion, will not be accepted, or things that will be perceived in a way, “she said. “But the most important thing about a story is to put your own voice, to put your story there.”
Copy published by Matt Brady