Category: English Corner Student Voices

May 31, 2023 English Corner Student Voices

Jingle Wells wins poetry contest with “Epitaph”

When creative writing professor Dan Albergotti encouraged his poetry class to enter the Paul Rice Broadside Series Poetry Contest, one of his students’ winning was in the back of his mind. That is exactly what happened, however, when marine biology major Jingle Wells ’23 ended up winning the competition with her poem “Epitaph,” which she wrote after coming across an Instagram post from a close relative. We spoke with Wells to discover more information regarding her piece.

A photograph showed up Wells’ Instagram feed one day that showed a simple headstone in a graveyard.

“I had just noticed the fact that there was only one word on it,” said Wells, “like the only other thing on there, besides his name and his face with a heart, was the word ‘son.’

This barren headstone struck a chord in Wells, as she thought of all the things the person could have been.

“I thought about the fact, which is sort of covered in the poem, that most people’s gravestones say something like ‘father of three,’ ‘loving mother,’ ‘loving wife,’ something to assert like the mark they made in the world,” said Wells. “He only had the opportunity to be ‘son,’ and he still made a big impact because there are so many people who are still thinking about him and still caring about him.”

This analysis took Wells to new heights, as she was able to draw from this idea into a creative piece. Wells wasn’t new to the Paul Rice Broadside contest; she had entered before, but never won. Her accomplishment stemmed from an evolving style in her poetry and the use of differentiating formats to become one with the current times.

He only had the opportunity to be ‘son’…

Jingle Wells, from “Epitaph”

“I used to write things that did not have as much enjambment or as many line breaks,” said Wells. “They were more in the old antique style, I would say, of sonnets — not quite to the level of being Shakespearian, but very, very form rigid.”

Wells’ reconsideration of her writing techniques led her to find and hone her unique style, and this led to her drafting a poem she really wanted to share. She hopes it will affect the world in a positive way. As contest winner, Wells won $100 and several copies of the broadside, which is a poster printed with the poem and accompanying art.

Wells feels blessed and grateful to have won this contest for her own personal reflections and that she gets to showcase her progress to her teacher, Albergotti, who taught her poetry for the last two semesters. One of the biggest moments this poem has granted her is with Albergotti himself.

“I think the coolest thing that happened to me was Dr. Albergotti, who I really respect not only as a professor but also as a person and a poet, got me to sign a copy of the Broadside for him,” said Wells. This amazing moment truly touched Wells and encouraged her to want to dip her pen into even more poetry, and even other opportunities to come, such as becoming a published writer one day.

For now, though, this exciting news has edged Wells forward towards further education, as she has recently been accepted into the Master of Fine Arts in Writing program at Florida Atlantic University. The immense pride and thankfulness Wells has earned from participating in and winning this competition will aid her in feeling validated in her future creative works. Although Wells is a very recent graduate, her impact and vigor in the classroom will influence both current and future students for years, as she hopes this poem and its message will get out and be shared to everyone.

“I just hope that everyone enjoys it and takes to heart the message of treating every day like the gift that it is,” said Wells.

When you come back next semester, stop by the English department to grab a copy of the Broadside for yourself.

May 1, 2023 English Corner Student Voices

CCU’s Master of Arts in Writing Students Gain Professional Experience

Pictured above, top row, left to right: Carissa Soukup, Kristina Gray, Kathryn Feazel-Kwiatkowski; front row left to right:, Dr. Kate Oestreich, Melanie Schlesser, Cameron Parker, Triniti Fisher, Lilith Yurkin (concealed), Jennifer Terry, and Catie Zimmer. 

If you’ve ever seen a TED Talk on YouTube, you’ve probably thought, “Hey, that’s really cool. All of these people came to support this speaker who seems to know a lot about this subject.” You might not know that academic conferences work a lot like TED talks, and students in the Master of Arts in Writing (MAW) program have recently had a chance to take to the professional stage with their work. 

Dr. Kate Oestreich, associate professor of English and coordinator of the MAW program, incorporated a focus on professionalization in her Principles of Editing and Publishing course this semester. After speaking with many current MAW students about the program, she realized that “in academia, we have artificial constraints set up where every student is working independently, and the only person they talk to or share their work with is the professor.” To address this issue, Oestreich incorporated collaboration into her classroom to build her students’ confidence and prepare them for the real-world situations they will face in their careers.

 With this in mind, Oestreich encouraged all her graduate students to apply for an academic conference to share their work with others in a professional setting and have the opportunity to network with others in the English community. While many of the students submitted to different conferences, five were accepted to speak at the 2023 Comparative Literature Conference on Digital Pasts and Futures; and one student, Morgan Phelps, even received funding to attend the conference in person at Long Beach, California.

MAW student Lilith Yurkin

By attending and presenting at academic conferences this semester, Coastal’s MAW students gained professional experience in ways the program has never seen before. MAW student Triniti Fisher explained how taking this graduate course exposed her to a new professional world. “Before this [class], I didn’t even know, honestly, how academic conferences worked or any of that,” said Fisher. “So, going through this process, seeing how it all works, has been really helpful.”

While all the students participating in the conferences chose their own topics, they all used the platform Collaborative Organization of Virtual Education (COVE) to access and annotate readings in an accessible way. One student, Kristina Gray, incorporated COVE in her paper by explaining how she plans to use it in her classroom as a high school English teacher, saying, “You can have the kids work together on looking at a map and a timeline and things like that. And, through it, there’s a lot of access to so many things.” Gray boasts about the inclusivity of COVE and the benefits of its use in the classroom.

Reflecting on the success rate of her students in this class, Dr. Oestreich expresses how proud she is. “I kept coaching them, being like, ‘You’re going to get turned down. It’s going to be okay. This is a safe space,’ said Dr. Orestreich. “And yet, here we are!”

Many students echoed this sentiment, stating their gratitude for such an opportunity.

MAW student Catie Zimmer expressed shock at getting accepted to the conference for which she applied, saying, “[It] was so crazy for me to, one, get an email saying, ‘Come speak at this conference across the ocean’ and, two, seeing them say, ‘We like what you have, and we want to hear it,’ which is something I never thought I would get from my academic writing.”

Oestreich added that building experience by presenting at conferences can go a long way in a job search. “It’s great to be adding something to your resume every year that will set you aside from the rest of the pack when you graduate,” said Dr. Oestreich. “You have got to get those publications and presentations on there.”

New and existing MAW students interested the editing and publishing field are encouraged to take this hands-on, collaborative course.

Senior English major Evelyn Scott co-authored this piece with Jordan Philo

April 26, 2023 English Corner Student Voices

Outstanding DCD Student of the Year: Leslie Shattuck

Leslie Shattuck, a senior Digital Culture and Design major at Coastal Carolina University, was voted 2023 DCD Student of the Year by department faculty. Shattuck grew up in a small town in New Hampshire. While she enjoyed being in a smaller community, she says, “it is also what encouraged me to branch out and come to Coastal. I wanted to push myself and see how I would thrive in a large, diverse environment like this.”

Shattuck shared that throughout her time here at Coastal, she was involved in organizations and clubs that catered to her major.

“My freshman year, I was very focused on academics and getting acclimated to college, but in my sophomore year, I was fortunate enough to get involved with the men’s club volleyball team,” said Shattuck. “Since then, I have been a manager for the team, made promotional videos for their social media, and taken photos at practices and tournaments.” Shattuck’s ability to blend her academic program with extracurricular work was a benefit in both realms.

Shattuck attributes much of her success as a DCD student to her professors, specifically Dr. Sarah Laiola and Dr. Anna Mukamal.

“[They] have been very supportive and encouraging to me during my time here. They are phenomenal professors who push me to be the best student and person I can be,” said Shattuck. “I’m very grateful to have known them and learned from both of them.”

Shattuck’s admiration is reciprocated by her professors. Dr. Laiola says Leslie was made for the DCD program and has an “eye for design,” especially when it comes to social media and digital platforms. 

Although school became overwhelming at times, Shattuck still pushed to find balance between academics and her personal life. “It’s been challenging, but very beneficial for me,” she said. Shattuck cites her extracurricular pursuits as a way to have fun and stay involved on campus, adding, “I would say that I also know myself very well, and allow myself to take breaks when I need them.”

Being selected for such a major award left Shattuck “very surprised and extremely grateful.” Although graduating college can throw you in many different directions and often leaves you wondering what’s next, Shattuck knows what she wants.

“I plan to go straight into the workforce: production.” 

Congratulations, Leslie!

English department interns Jordan Philo and Nyjah Asbury co-authored this story.

April 17, 2023 English Corner Student Voices

Outstanding English Student of the Year: Evelyn Scott

When Evelyn Scott arrived at Coastal Carolina’s campus for her first year, she never imagined she would make such an impact in her short time here. This year, as a senior, Evelyn Scott was named the Outstanding English Student of the Year. She feels truly grateful for the recognition.

“I feel honored, I feel proud, I feel grateful; I feel relieved, ultimately.” said Scott. “Just overall, I’m happy and I’m grateful for this opportunity to get this award.”

This honor did not come lightly, however, as she earned this accomplishment through hard work and talent. One of her professors, Dr. Steven Hamelman, provided insight into what kind of student Scott was through her time here.

“As a student, Scott was tremendous, all in, focused, fully prepared, and produced fabulous writing,” said Hamelman. “She had a real alertness, or mindfulness that makes you think ‘Woah, this is special. Where is her paper? I want to read it now. When that paper comes in, it’s going to be good.’”

Scott attributes her success to her ability to find a field that suited her, even when her original plan did not work out.

“At the beginning of my career here at Coastal, I thought, ‘I’m going to be a broadcaster in journalism,’” said Scott. “And then I found out my passion’s not there.” She declared a major in English instead, with a minor in journalism.

“I have a lot of passion for what I do,” said Scott. “I feel like if you don’t have passion in what you’re going to school for, you’re not going to have the energy to put that much into what you want to do. Passion is a big thing to reaching high in your career at Coastal.”

This passion she feels has taken her far, and she hopes to use it as she gets herself right into the field after graduation. Scott plans to get her hands dirty to use her freshly gained experience and work through her passion to see where it might take her.

Scott offered up her advice to future and current CCU students who hope to follow in her footsteps.

“You got to have your intentions there, and if you’re not passionate about it, you’re not going to push yourself. Be yourself in your writing; be yourself in class. It’s the little things also, like getting to know your professors, saying hi or good morning every morning, going to the office hours, talking to them if you see them at an event at Coastal. It’s really the small things I feel like that help you be recognized for your achievements.”

Scott and Hamelman both expressed the importance of having a known voice inside and outside of Moodle. This allows for the teacher to point you out in a crowd and be able to verbally express how much they loved having you in their class.

Scott also recommended that students who are aiming to achieve this honor not overwork themselves.

“It’s important to have a balance in your academic life, but also your personal life,” said Scott. “You need to get to know yourself as a person as well as an academic, and not just do one or the other. I feel like at Coastal it’s very important that you figure out who you are, especially when you’re becoming an adult. So, don’t break your back, take breaks when you need to, and take time for yourself when you need to.”

Scott’s reputation and impact will be remembered for a long time, and the people she met along the way will always recall and respect her amazing accomplishments.

April 5, 2023 English Corner Student Voices

#BookTok Boosting Sales: Is TikTok Changing the World of Publishing?

#BookTok, a large sub-community on TikTok for book lovers who review, discuss, and promote their favorite, or least favorite, books, has taken the reading community by storm in recent years. On your most recent trip to your favorite bookstore, you may have noticed they even have shelves and displays dedicated to #BookTok recommendations. The English community has had many conversations about how technology is harmful to physical books; however, that discourse may be changing, as it’s estimated that 20 million printed books were sold in 2021 alone, solely due to #BookTok and the circulation of recommendations. In fact, the number of physical books purchased in 2021 was more than it’s ever been since 2004 (Bateman).

Authors and publishing companies have also been using #BookTok to promote their books to reach younger audiences and grow sales. For example, Colleen Hoover is now one of the most talked-about romance authors in the country due to #BookTok and its users recommending her novels. Hoover even created a TikTok account, featuring a video of her buying her mother a car with some of the money she has acquired from her recent fame. However, in recent weeks, another author has “gone viral” and it’s raised many questions, support, and criticism from publishers and authors alike.

Lloyd Devereuk Richard, a full-time lawyer, published a book in 2012 after spending 14 years writing it, only to garner little to no sales or support. When his daughter posted a 16-second TikTok sharing her father’s story with the world, however, it “blew up” with 10.8 million likes and 51 million views. Devereux Richard’s thriller novel, Stone Maidens, quickly hit records like the internet had never seen, reaching over 65,000 sales and hitting the No. 1 Amazon Bestsellers list in an instant (VanDerveer). The author quickly became a well-known persona in the #BookTok community, gathering support from millions of followers, one who commented: “Moments like this are why I stay on this app. The love & generosity from people is astounding. There is definitely more good than evil.” (@TSpin)

While this is a heartwarming and possibly tear-inducing story, it raises the question of how powerful social media promotions can be and how influence works in the reading community. I’m sure we’ve all been influenced to buy a book or two simply based on a friend’s recommendation, but how far can that encouragement go? Viewers of the Stone Maidens story aren’t the only ones to notice this change; publishing houses and companies have also started to advertise through social media to achieve high marketing status, but many have failed due to a lack of authenticity in the social media posts.

Professor Jason Ockert, a creative writer and published author at CCU, doesn’t currently use social media, as he has found it more detrimental to his life than beneficial. Ockert used Twitter in the past but found that it became a distraction to his creative writing process and drew him away from reading in his free time.

“I just know that for myself, it detracts from what I value the most, which is the creation in the process of working, doing the real work of battling the story.”

In his undergrad years, Ockert would submit his work to publishers and mail his creative writing to journals that he thought matched up with his writing style. Ockert emphasizes that his style of writing is what really caught people’s eye: “You become distinctive as a writer at the sentence level; it’s the discourse that allows you to be distinctive. Your sentences are the thing that will make you stand out from anybody else.” In times of ChatGPT and Open AI, the way a writer crafts their sentences is what can really set you apart from writers and robots alike.

Nowadays, many editors and agents want their writers to have a substantial number of followers on social media. Ockert said, “there’s a little bit of influence from the agent or from editors to promote [writing on social media].” This push to promote writing on social media can cause an increase in book sales, as we’ve seen from the statistics above. However, Ockert doesn’t measure his success or the value of his work by followers or likes; he measures it by the experience he is able to give his readers. Ockert suggested that writers who use social media need to find a balance between “trying something new” and “chasing down a trend” when sharing one’s work with the world, stating, “I do think that you should be aware of the pulse of what’s going on.”

In the face of AI writing and TikTok fame, Ockert believes in individual growth and strength, emphasizing the power of always having one or two people who believe in you and your writing ability. When deciding whether or not to continue his use of social media, Ockert asked himself, “Does it bring me joy, or does it extract from joy?”

While some do find joy in #BookTok as a space for conversing with others about their favorite stories, others find it grounded in physical interaction and print books. Whether you choose to enter into a career in publishing or writing, you get to make the decision for yourself whether social media interaction and promotions are right for you.

Works Cited:

Bateman, Kayleigh. “This Is How TikTok Helped Propel Book Sales to a Bestselling Year.” World Economic Forum, 11 Mar. 2022, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/03/tiktok-booktok-print-books-sales/. 

VanDerveer, Melanie. “’Stone Maidens’ Sells 65,000 Copies after Viral TikTok Video.” The Blast, 26 Feb. 2023, https://theblast.com/455907/after-decades-of-no-sales-stone-maidens-sells-65000-in-two-weeks-after-tiktok-video/. 

March 22, 2023 English Corner Student Voices, Student Voices

A student-to-scholar transformation

Pictured L-R: Dr. Christian Smith, Dr. Emma Howes, Kelsie Crough, Jennifer Terry, and Peyton Barrett

For many student writers, attending a nationwide conference and presenting original work is one of the first steps to establishing their professional identities. On March 29-April 1, 2023, three students from the English department will, for the first time, attend a Sigma Tau Delta (STD) conference in Denver, Co. to showcase their work.

Sigma Tau Delta is an international English Honors Society that provides spaces for networking and honors graduate and undergraduate research in English studies. The conference invites its chapters and respective advisors from various universities across the globe to share experiences and ideas, be recognized for their achievements, and meet numerous respected authors. Aside from present their own work, students at this conference will celebrate Toni Morrison’s contributions to the English field; attend a lecture with Nicky Beer, writer and poetry professor at the University of Colorado Denver; and explore Brenda Peynado’s short story collection The Rock Eaters. We had a chance to chat with the three students attending, all of whom are also officers in the CCU chapter of Sigma Tau Delta: Jennifer Terry (president), Kelsie Crough (co-vice president), and Peyton Barrett (treasurer). The students discussed both their conference presentations and their expectations.

Terry will present three original poems: “Drifting Too Far,” “Pawn Shop Electric Bills,” and “Adoration of the Ages,” the latter of which has recently been published by LoftBooks. All three poems focus on the different manifestations of love. “Since poetry is part of who I am,” said Terry, “it made sense for me to submit [poems] to the conference.” Terry noted that since Coastal Carolina University’s chapter of STD has not been to the national conference in many years, she has high expectations for the event.

Since poetry is who I am, it made sense for me to submit [poems] to the conference.

Jennifer terry

“I am most looking forward to exploring a new place with Kelsie, Peyton, and the advisers while we interact with other chapters of the Sigma Tau Delta organization and listen to some great readings of all sorts of writing and research,” said Terry.

  Crough will present “Fire in the Glass House,” an original short story she wrote in a Fiction II class with Jason Ockert, professor of creative writing. The second-person narrative employs magical realism in its exploration of Crough’s anxieties about losing a loved one. “I chose this piece for a few reasons,” said Crough. “First, I believed that it highlighted my skill as a writer and showed an emotional depth to my writing. Second, it was an unpublished piece that felt…ready for the world to see.” Like Terry, Crough is excited to meet and network with other writers, yet she is also eager to present her work to a large, professional audience for the first time. The conference presentation is “such a unique experience that not a lot of young writers get to do,” said Crough, “and I am looking forward to getting that experience and making memories that I can reflect on as I grow as a writer.”

Crough presented her poem at a recent Brown Bag Lunch event, sponsored by the English department’s Student Success Committee

 Barrett will present an academic paper on discourse surrounding sexual violence, specifically regarding agency and how we can relocate that agency to benefit victims of sexual violence. Barrett’s interest in the topic stemmed from her composition and rhetoric course with Dr. Howes, a CCU associate professor in Composition and Rhetoric and one of the advisors for Coastal’s STD chapter. Through her research, Barrett found a significant lack of education surrounding sexual violence discourse—a fact she wanted to change. “I felt that this research was…something most people have never heard of or didn’t know much about,” said Barrett, “so it felt right to submit this paper for the Sigma Tau Delta conference.” Barrett is also excited to learn from the other writers presenting at the conference and to see what new conversations and pieces are entering English studies. “I know there will be a lot to learn and experience at this conference, and that’s probably the best part of this trip,” said Barrett.

Barrett presented her academic work at the Brown Bag Lunch event as a preview to the conference.

All three students said that support from their professors and friends, specifically Dr. Howes and Dr. Smith, another STD advisor and associate professor in Composition and Rhetoric, motivated them to attend this conference. “[Dr. Smith] was very encouraging to Kelsie, Peyton, and I about what we wanted to submit and was there for guidance if we needed it,” said Terry.

Smith urges current and prospective students in Sigma Tau Delta to submit their work to the next conference. “This is a fantastic opportunity,” said Smith, “and our students attend a school that sees that [and] is willing to help them get there.”

These students delivered a preview of their presentations at the recent departmental Brown Bag Lunch event, sponsored by the Student Success Committee.

March 6, 2023 English Corner Student Voices

Walking the professional walk: MAW students at AWP

For writers, walking into a room full of renowned authors is like a child walking into Disneyland; the awe is palpable. This week, several CCU graduate students will travel across the country to have just that experience.

Five students in the Master of Arts in Writing program at Coastal Carolina University will be attending the 2023 Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference and Bookfair in Seattle, Washington later this week. The Association of Writers and Writing Programs (A.W.P.) is a community-based organization created to provide networking opportunities for writers. The official A.W.P. website expands on this by discussing how the mission of the association is to provide support, advocacy, and resources to writers, providing a great opportunity for students interested in creative writing to visit Seattle.

The four-day annual conference is a gathering of creative writing professors, students, teachers, writers, editors, and publishers to exchange ideas and discuss within the writing community. The event will feature speakers, panels, and a bookfair. The bookfair is used to promote graduate schools, literary journals, publishing houses, and a multitude of other programs and job opportunities aimed to assist creative writers. Manny graduate students attend to scout for jobs, further education, and even to discover new authors.

Joe Oestreich, the associate dean of the Edwards College at CCU, has been a frequent flyer at the A.W.P. conferences since 2004, when he attended his first conference as a graduate student with Ohio State University. Oestreich says he was initially intimidated by the size of the convention, but when he went back the next year he quickly came to the realization that “the creative writing world is a beach, and this is the whole beach.” He is also excited for students to be able to attend this year to connect with other writers, editors, and publishers working in the same field. Oestreich believes the A.W.P. conference is a great opportunity for graduate students to network and make connections that, in his personal experience, can last a lifetime.

 One current CCU M.A.W. student, Lilith Yurkin, plans to attend the conference and is looking forward to seeing the panelists and meeting new people in the field. Yurkin says they are most excited to see panelists Stephen Graham Jones and Silvia Moreno Garcia, two speculative authors speaking at the conference. They also said, based on the conference’s offerings, the event is “much more diverse than [they] had expected” and includes a wide range of events consisting of “people talking about anything from AI technology to writing as a queer person.”

An aforementioned author attending the conference, Stephen Graham Jones, has published nearly 30 books ranging in genres of horror, crime, and experimental fiction. Jones is a Blackfoot Native American author who leans on his experience in cultural identity in his recent novel, The Only Good Indians. Silvia Moreno Garcia is a Mexican Canadian novelist, most notably known for her TikTok famous novel, Mexican Gothic, which was published in 2020. Along with these two reputable authors, there will be thousands of other creative writers in attendance at this year’s convention.

Catie Zimmer, a current M.A.W. student who plans to attend the conference, says she’s looking forward to seeing Keetje Kuipers and Jericho Brown, two award-winning poets who will be attending the conference. Zimmer has admired these poets from afar but is especially excited to see them in person. Kuipers is going to be discussing poetry in terms of motherhood, trauma, and sexuality in a year of political turmoil and change. Brown is scheduled to discuss his personal experience as a black writer and poet. Zimmer will also be working at the bookfair to promote CCU’s Master of Arts in Writing program.

While many famous, world-renowned poets and novelists will be in attendance, some of Coastal Carolina University’s own professors will be presenting their works in front of larger audiences. For example, Dan Albergotti, Amira Hanafi, and Oestreich will be signing their own works of creative fiction during the bookfair portion of the convention.

The M.A.W. program has provided for students to attend the A.W.P. conference for 10 years now and has received positive feedback from excited participants.

February 13, 2023 English Corner Student Voices

What is a transcription jam?

Tomorrow, CCU students will join people around the country for a virtual transcription jam. “Transcription jam” is a disorienting word, though – what is it? A party? Does it involve music? Is it a gelatinous condiment? Will there be toast?

Let’s start with “transcription.” It means taking a document that exists in a .pdf form and retyping it so it’s in .html format. Once a document is in .html, then people around the world can search for it and find it with a database search. Researchers do transcriptions of historical documents, created originally in what is basically a snapshot, to make the documents accessible to more people. So, doing transcription essentially makes you a researcher, which is pretty cool.

Now, for the other word: “jam.” This word has been adopted as an alternative to the suffix “-athon.” We all know that suffix from words like “marathon,” “danceathon,” and “telethon” – it’s an event that brings a lot of people together for a specific purpose, usually with a fundraising component, in an event that lasts for an extended period of time, like several hours. Transcription-a-thon events might focus on documents related to a historic event, period, or person. The problem with the “a-thon” suffix, said transcription jam organizer Dr. Sarah Laiola, who is assistant professor of digital culture and design in the CCU Department of English, is that many events dubbed “-athon” suggests participants will be able to continue to do an action for a long period of time. For this event, all that is needed is your own laptop to be able to type on to transcribe the scanned documents. It doesn’t have to take very long, and there’s no physical stamina needed. The alternative name “jam” diminishes the ableist connotation to allow for anyone to join in and participate.

So that covers what the event is. Why do it, and why now? Douglass Day was founded by Mary Church Terrell, and the first transcription jam was hosted using her letters. In 2017 the Colored Conventions Project started reviving this specific Black history celebration by digitizing the archives used for the transcriptions. Each year, the Douglass Day Foundation selects one historic figure of focus. This year, we celebrate Mary Shadd Cary by transcribing documents from her archives. The original documents, and their scanned copies, are perceived as pictures, which preserved the words but denounced the emotional ties linked to the original, handwritten pieces. Holding the transcription jam allows for participants to become one with the words and the author and more attuned with the historical ties. Humanizing the living history into a more modern application creates the ability to properly preserve the evidence of that of Frederick Douglass, making these documents more real in the sense that once the transcription is finally complete, the digitized versions can remain intact forever.

So if the cupcakes and pizza aren’t enough to entice you to attend tomorrow’s event, head over to the transcription jam so you can be a maker of living Black American history.

April 20, 2021 English Corner Student Voices, Student Voices Post a Comment

A Prize-Winning Poetic Performance

We don’t always think of poetry as a performance art. Though it’s fundamentally designed to be spoken, poetry is frequently considered to be a solitary pursuit, with the creator focused inward. CCU senior Aliza Saper, physical theater major and winner of the Spring 2021 Paul Rice Poetry Broadside Contest with her work “To Eat and Be Eaten,” brings the dynamic nature of poetry back to its rightful place: front and center stage.

Aliza Saper reading her piece, To Eat and Be Eaten

Saper’s winning work is a reflection on the nature of space, the passage of time, and a permeating anxiety that she believes afflicts everyone in a Covid-19 world.

“This is my Covid life,” Saper said of her winning work, which was judged by poet Abraham Smith. “I think we all have a version of this right now. The problems that we’re facing, the struggles that we’re having, are all compounded together.”

Saper edited and submitted the poem from her childhood bedroom, the same place she inhabited the entire pandemic. The focus on space in the poem blends with a chronic worry that Saper fears is an unavoidable symptom of the pandemic.

“It really has been a time of, ‘If it’s not this thing that’s eating at me, then it’s this thing,’” said Saper. “And then it almost feels abnormal to be at peace and not be worrying — we have become so used to that little eating-away-at-you feeling that something’s wrong, something bad is going to happen.”

Saper has certainly gained notoriety for her verse in her final semester at CCU; in addition to her Paul Rice Poetry Broadside Contest honor, Saper also won the inaugural commencement poetry contest, open to all pending graduates of the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration and the Thomas W. Edwards and Robin Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts, established for the combined ceremony for students of the two colleges. Saper’s winning work, “Inches,” will be presented at commencement.

Joe Oestreich, chair and professor of the Department of English, said Saper’s approach transcends mere reflection on a given subject.

“What I love about her work, and this commencement poem specifically, is how she gets beyond the sentimentalized, conventional wisdom of her topic to the truth with a capital ‘T,'”said Oestreich.

Theater has always been the center of Saper’s artistic life, with poetry serving as a side hobby. Her discovery of poetry as performance occurred during a gap year she took after attending Illinois Wesleyan University for one year. At home in Denver and feeling a bit pigeonholed, Saper dared herself to attend the weekly poetry slam at the Mercury Café.

People liked my words, and I was shocked.

“I went, and it was one of those magical moments in life when I was in the right place at the right time,” said Saper. “I had written poetry before — that wasn’t new — but performing it was. People liked my words, and I was shocked.”

Saper enrolled in CCU’s physical theater program the following year, and during that time she founded Tongues in Common, a monthly poetry open mic night at Yoga in Common in Myrtle Beach. Established in February 2019, the student-run program continues today as an outlet for artistic performance, growth, and connection.

This year’s Paul Rice Poetry Broadside Contest was Saper’s first experience submitting her work, and she encourages other students to do the same, emphasizing the concept of pulling out work that’s already been produced and polishing it up.

“Giving life to old work is sometimes more accessible and more fulfilling that even producing something new,” said Saper. “That idea is really well taught to the physical theater majors: work never dies. I think we’re so used to having our work die. We get an assignment to make this project, and we organize it, and we show it in class, and we get a grade on it, and it evaporates after that. But that’s always raw material. Once you make something, it’s raw material.”

Saper credits Jessica Richardson, associate professor of creative writing in the Department of English, with guiding her, an artist who typically wrote poetry for the ear, toward learning how to edit for the eye.

“I write poetry for performance, so I never thought about the importance of details such as punctuation and line placement,” said Saper. “It was a fascinating experience.”

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