Creative Writing Program Infused with Real Writers

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Creative Writing Program Infused with Real Writers

January 18, 2017

anoka ramsey community newsletterFor nearly 20 years, the Two Rivers Reading Series has introduced students to acclaimed writers. Guest authors have included Robert Bly, Louise Erdrich, Kao Kalia Yang, Alexs Pate and Wang Ping. “When you have the living, breathing author come to campus, that really brings the words to life,” says Professor Chris McCarthy.

With abundant programming, guest authors, published professors and successful alumni, Anoka-Ramsey is a great place to begin a creative writing career. The following are a few examples of the creative writing connections offered to students.

 

  • The Cambridge Campus offers the Minnesota Writers Series, a creative writing club, and a regular creative writing class. Instructor Bill Breen says, “Each semester, I’m amazed at the way my students combine creativity and critical thinking to investigate their lives. We have fun in the class but there’s also serious self-discovery taking place.”
  • The course “A Writer’s Life: Publishing, Proposals, and Grants” focuses on publishing, marketing, and public relations. The Associate in Fine Arts (AFA) capstone is a mentorship with a faculty member who writes in the student’s chosen genre. The course culminates in a publishable manuscript that can be used as a writing sample for grant, work, or college applications.
  • Poetry City, USA, is a year-long joint publishing project between the AFA creative writing programs at Anoka-Ramsey, Normandale and North Hennepin community colleges. Jasmin Ziegler, editorial professor for Poetry City, USA, also advises the Creative Writing Club that published “Rapids Review”, the art and creative writing journal of the Coon Rapids Campus.
  • The Careers in Writing speaker series introduces students to professional writers; guests have included Star Tribune music critic Jon Bream, senior books editor Laurie Hertzel, and senior travel editor Kerri Westenberg.
  • Kathryn Kysar is the author of two books of poetry, “Pretend the World” and “Dark Lake”, and editor of “Riding Shotgun: Women Write about Their Mothers”.

January 2017 Creative Writing Faculty, Student, Alumni Briefs

  • Professor Elizabeth Tannen was awarded a 2017 Minnesota State Arts Board (MSAB) grant in poetry for $8,500. Tannen will work with a mentor to generate and revise two in-progress poem sequences and to compile her first full-length poetry manuscript.
  • Creative writing alumnus Joshua Chase graduated in spring 2016 with a master’s degree in Rhetoric and Writing from Saint Cloud State University, where he served as assistant director of the program’s composition program. He entered a Ph.D. program in Rhetoric, Theory and Culture at Michigan Tech in fall 2016.
  • Professor Paige Riehl is the poetry editor for the Midway Journal, an online literary magazine based in Saint Paul.
  • Fall 2016 Creative Writing AFA graduate Taylor Houle published his creative nonfiction piece “Miracles” in the fall 2016 edition of “East Fork”, an online literary magazine of work by two year students published by University of Cincinnati—Clermont College.
  • Professor Scott Hall is the editor for the Minnesota English Journal, which publishes academic papers, teaching narratives, teaching materials and creative submissions.
  • Creative writing alumnus Morgan Hughes graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University in May 2015 and recently published his creative non-fiction essay “God Hates Ventriloquists” in the online magazine “Fogged Clarity”.
  • Professor Kathryn Kysar will serve on a panel discussing “To Grade or Not to Grade: Assessment and Undergraduate Creative Writing” and reading her poetry at “Twenty Years of the Two Year College Caucus: A Celebration” at the Association of Writing Program’s 50th Anniversary annual conference in Washington, D.C.

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