This club meets regularly to plan and host literary events on campus and to workshop club members’ writing. If you love to write and want to be around others who feel the same way, the Creative Writing Club is here for you. Some of its recent activities include sponsoring a Dark Carnival writing contest and publishing a chapbook with scary stories by the contest winner and other contributors, as well as planning and hosting three “write-in” events for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).
In 2019-2020 the club continued to workshop writing, sponsor NaNoWriMo write-in events, and encourage a virtual writing community alongside face-to-face events.
Meetings are held in the Writing Center in the LARC. The club is informal and relaxed, open to any and all who love to write.
Arrow Rock is ²Ø¾«¸ó's student-run literary journal, published annually or biannually. You can enroll in the Arrow Rock course to learn about journal production, including coming up with an issue theme, soliciting for contributors, selecting, editing, organizing submissions, and designing the layout. You also have the opportunity to get your work published in the journal. Arrow Rock is committed to promoting and providing a mature environment for ²Ø¾«¸ó students to publish quality fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, plays, and artwork, while showcasing the integrity and individual talents of each writer or artist.
Abby Manis brings The Great Gatsby to life in Dr. Justine Pas’s American literature class “Space, Place, and Identity.”
English majors at ²Ø¾«¸ó can become members of the Kappa Beta chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society. Membership is through invitation, though you can read through the and then contact our faculty advisor for consideration. Sigma Tau Delta sponsors events such as the Writing Bootcamp series, which helps students tune up their essay-writing skills before finals.
The Student Research Conference is an opportunity for students to display their scholarly and creative projects to the ²Ø¾«¸ó community. You can either work in a poster format or give a presentation in concurrent sessions. You can nominate yourself or a faculty member may nominate you. English students have been known to team up to form panels; for instance, in 2017 a group of English students won second place for their roundtable discussion, "Chaucer's Women: A Look at Femininity in the Canterbury Tales."
Every year, the Department of English offers three writing awards in which students compete for recognition. Winners are announced at the annual Honors Convocation in the spring.
The Linda L. Ross Creative Writing Award
Open to students at the sophomore level or above. This award goes to the student who, in the judgment of the English faculty, has submitted the best creative writing that year.
Past Ross Award Winners:
2020: Emerson Holmes
2019: Caitlin Birenbaum
2018: Elizabeth Peterson
2017: Kara Neely (pictured)
2016: Valentina Tablante
The Howard Barnett Essay Award
Open to students at the sophomore level or above. This award goes to the student who, in the judgment of the English faculty, has written the best essay of the year.
Past Barnett Award Winners:
2020: Alysan Amann
2019: Katherine Gierer (pictured)
2018: Katherine Gierer (pictured)
2015: Rebecca Ann Spaggiari
2014: Katelyn Preuss
The Jean Fields Award
Open to freshmen students only. This award goes to the freshman who, in the judgment of the English faculty, has produced the best essay OR the best creative writing piece that year.
