This week, the English department hosted a series of events for their “Celebrate Writers” festival. The festival concluded with a series of student readings by USM’s writing minors. Justin Tussing, one of USM’s English professors, said that the program has been running for roughly 20 years. “We wanted to do something connecting the Portland writing community and the USM writing community.”
Earlier in the week, students ventured to the North Star Café for an evening of spoken word, but Thursday night they brought it back to the Portland campus. After a few rows of chairs were lined up in front of the lectern, writing minors were offered an intimate setting to share their various works.
Eleven students shared their pieces, from poems to short stories, and even a few novel excerpts. Each brought their own voice and personality to the podium. Gerard Bianco, an art major, said that he hoped to use his writing minor by “going on to graduate school for an MFA in creative writing, in order to teach and write my second novel.” Bianco is the author of “The Deal Master,” a murder mystery. He chose to read a few poems that will be included in his upcoming book, “Poor Choices.” Another contributing writer, English major Nicolette Greene, said she wanted to use her writing minor as “a hobby on the side, but my real goal in life is to write for a living.”
From the previously published, to those just breaking into the writing scene, each student was allowed roughly five to six minutes — though if they ran over, the crowd was not about to boo them off the stage. Some students were more tentative to share their pieces than others, but Greene said she thinks “it’s a good idea to present work and get a general feel from the public.” Greene’s piece, “Alternative Spring Break,” a detailed illustration of a poverty-stricken district in Atlanta, earned loud applause for her vivid imagery and heart wrenching descriptions.
There was a sense of camaraderie between audience and speaker. With the support of their listeners, even the most nervous speakers were able to hide, if not completely get rid of, their nerves and present their work effectively. Each author was heartily applauded, because in a group of writing minors, celebrating writers means celebrating each other.