May 2, 2005

UA Creative Writing Students Share Skills with Young Writers

by Becky Booker

UA's master of fine arts program in creative writing has implemented a pilot program for young writers. The teachers, published poets and prose writers, who are graduate students in the program, led the 12-week writing exploration called the "Creative Writing Club." Forty high-school students, from 11 area high schools, participate.

"The Creative Writing Club is an enrichment opportunity for high-school students who love language and want to develop their writing skills in ways that extend beyond just 'correct' writing into that zone where words are art'," said Robin Behn, professor of English and founder of the club. The campus-wide effort was made possible with cooperation and grant support from the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Education.

According to Behn, even though writing is generally a solitary activity, individual writers flourish when they can come together to share their work, talk about the creative process, and share their knowledge. "The Creative Writing Club has helped me feel better about expressing myself," said Frank Fleming, a student at Bryant High School. "Before the club, I was really shy about presenting my work. Now I have more confidence."

Other students agree. "I didn't know I had so many ideas. They come more easily now," said Anna Rosenthal, a Capitol School student.

Jolene Stanford, executive director of the Alabama Consortium for Educational Renewal, a division of UA's College of Education, coordinated with local schools and area high-school teachers and principals.

"The club has exposed me to different ways to think about my work," said Kate Lawrence, a student at Northridge. "I find that I write more, and now I constantly think about what I want to write," said K.C. Vick of Bryant High School.

"The Creative Writing Club teaches you different styles of writing and gets you to think outside the box," said Randall Willis of Central High School. "I just thought I was outside the box `til I joined Creative Writing Club!"

Plans are to publish the writing by the high-school students in a variety of ways. Throughout the semester, students are posting their work on the club's website, www.bama.ua.edu/~cwc/. The site was set up by UA computer-based honors program student Zac Riddle, who is working with the Creative Writing Club.

Behn has taught poetry writing and other courses about poetry to graduate and undergraduate students in the creative writing program at UA since 1988. She is the author of three books of poems, most recently Horizon Note, and co-editor of a book about how to write poetry, The Practice of Poetry. She is the recipient of the Burnum Award, the highest faculty award at UA.

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