Headline: Writers series emphasizes new perspective outside of classroom

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By: Ruby Hensley

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Instead of filing into a classroom to listen to their professor lecture about the importance of proper punctuation, students are able to listen and learn from a well-known and respected authors. 

The Grand Valley Writers Series is a showcase of noteworthy authors and their work available to any and all Grand Valley State University students. Each date focuses on one or more authors, with both a craft talk and a book reading and signing.

This year, Donovan Hohn, an award-winning nonfiction author, will be kicking off the series Thursday, Sept. 29. Hohn has had his work published in The New York Times magazine, Harper’s Magazine and various other publications. He is now a professor at Wayne State University.  He will have a craft talk from 4 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. in Kirkhof Center Room 2215/16. He will then have a book signing from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Lake Superior Hall Room 174. 

Beginning in 2007, the Writers Series has allowed GVSU students to connect to authors on a more tangible level. In comparison to simply reading their work for what it is, students are able to learn about important concepts of writing from the featured writers first-hand through lectures and book talks.

Todd Kaneko, coordinator of the writers series, expressed just how important this event is to GVSU students, especially writing majors.

“Each writer has their own way of thinking about writing and about their subjects,” Kaneko said via email. “It’s an intimate relationship between a writer and the blank page, and this is a chance to get insight into those relationships as they are seen by our visiting writers.”

The series also aims to have a more diverse group of voices in order to aid the liberal education that the writing department provides to its students.

“Diverse voices make for a richer, more varied program for our students and audiences, as well as different perspectives on writing and the world,” Kaneko said.

Not every writer in the Writers Series are famous award-winning novelists from across the country. In fact, many of the faculty in the writing department at GVSU are published authors, and some will be making appearances in this series. The series, however, is more focused on new perspectives that are unlike those being taught and encouraged in typical writing classrooms and push to convey the idea that students can relate to many different authors.

“I hope that when students meet our visitors this year, they are able to see parts of themselves in the writers, and in doing so, students can understand that a career as a writer of stories or essays or poems is something that they can pursue in the real world, and what it means to pursue an artistic career,” Kaneko said.

From journalists to poets to short story authors, the writers series encourages every voice and style to make itself known. Each event is considered to be a new experience in understanding the world and the writing created in it, which makes this series unique to GVSU.

 More information on these events can be found at http://www.gvsu.edu/writing/grand-valley-writers-series-12.htm