SFUAD’s Student Writers Association (SWA) has recently launched a new series of craft seminars aimed at enterprising students hoping for more opportunities to expand their work. Led by their peers and held during lunch hours so as to accommodate students’ busy schedules, each session individually focuses on an aspect of creative writing, such as character development, dialogue or plot. “The seminars are meant to reinforce what we’re learning, as well as adding some new ideas on those very topics,” says Jen Hanson of SWA, the mastermind behind the seminars. “I felt that there are some areas of craft that classes cannot delve deep into, as there are a wide range of things which need to be taught and learned. In creating these seminars, my hope, and SWA’s hope, is that students will have an opportunity to really dig deep in specific topics.” Amaya Hoke, a sophomore Creative Writing major from Texas, took on the task of hosting the first seminar on Oct. 13. Entitled “Split ‘Em Open,” the session focused on character and characterization. “It was definitely a joyful experience, so many people showed up!” enthuses Hoke a few weeks after her seminar. “I gave the attendees an option of two exercises. They could create a schedule for their character, like 8 am – wake up, just to try and show the daily life of a character. Another was to try to portray how their character was by describing the contents on the inside of their car. There were some pretty amazing results!” Hoke chose to focus her seminar on characterization because “I’ve always been really passionate about characters, I feel like they make the story. I feel like if a writer can’t love and dedicate time to their characters, then who can love...

“Longmire” transformed Benildus Hall into a hospital wing for a day—look for it in episode one of the show’s third season.

On Feb. 12, Lannan Foundation hosted a reading at The Lensic Performing Arts Center with short story author and “genius grant” winner George Saunders (Tenth of December, CivilWarLand in Bad Decline and Pastoralia) followed by a Q&A, conducted New York Times Deputy Editor Joel Lovell. With animated voice and comedic timing, Saunders’ reading of “Victory Lap” demonstrated his quirky yet humanizing styles, while the conversation that followed brought out the perks and surprises of the author’s past. “I think is was one of the best Lannan evenings that I’ve seen,” says Creative Writing Department Co-Chair Matt Donovan. “The conversations in those types of events aren’t always focused on elements of craft and I really appreciated the ways in which they made it accessible.” Rather than didactic responses, for example, Saunders provided Lovell, who is a previous acquaintance, with entertaining and lax conversation. Donovan describes also an appreciation of the writer’s reading performance. A talented use of vocals, especially when changing from the POV of a little girl practicing ballet to a middle aged raper, kept the audience members on the edge of their seats, while Saunders’ witty pacing took the edge off of an otherwise dark story. Laugh. Gape. Laugh more. Stare in utter shock. Laugh. “He was entertaining, he was funny, he was poignant and he called me a badass,” says R.A. Ademulegun, Creative Writing student, who waited for Saunders’ autograph after the reading. “He gave me great pointers. You know, ‘a table is a table,’” Ademulegun says, quoting Saunders from his Q&A when he expressed an impatience for flowery language. “We’re always trying to impress people with our work,” Ademulegun concludes. “Our readers are just ordinary people.” Following the reading, Lovell, who wrote a cover story on Tenth of December for The New York Times,...

By Nick Martinez An interview with Matt Donovan, co-chair for the Creative Writing Department with Dana Levin, in which Donovan discusses his return to chairing duties for the Fall 2013 semester....