New program to bring some visiting writers to Yale

SHAWN CHENG

Aspiring writers at Yale have new reason to be encouraged, thanks to a substantial new source of funding in support of their art. Tobias Wolff, a novelist, short story and non-fiction writer best known for This Boy's Life, inaugurated the John-Christophe Schlesinger Visiting Writer Program with a public reading on Tues., Sept. 14, and an Ezra Stiles Master's tea on Wed., Sept. 15. In addition to his readings, he also attended Robert Starc's writing classes and offered individual advice to student writers.

Mr. and Mrs. Richard Schlesinger, whose daughters Lauren Schlesinger, SY '94, and Katharine Schlesinger, SY '98, both attended Yale, established the permanently-endowed fund this semester as a memorial to their son, John-Christopher, a Stanford student who died in a car accident in 1994. "In honor of John's interest in creative writing, we wanted our gift to help inspire and encourage student writers through direct contact with established authors," the Schlesingers said. "We hope that our gift will enable Yale to build on its tradition of active education in the arts and its nurturing of students' creativity through close interaction with experts."

The Schlesinger program hopes to "renew the community between aspiring writers and past aspiring writers [who are] now present writers," according to Yale College Dean and English professor Richard H. Brodhead, BR '68, GRD '72.

The program is part of an ongoing effort by Yale College to create more educational resources for aspiring student writers. Students hoping for more opportunities for exposure to the professional literary world will also have the option of choosing the new writing concentration in the English major.

"We want to bring visiting writers to Yale for more than a one-night stand," Professor Langdon Hammer, director of undergraduate studies for the English department, explained of the department's decision to widen opportunities for creative writers.. "We want them to be able to meet and talk with the students in formal and informal settings, and to connect their visits with the work they are doing in the classroom."

The writing concentration requires students to complete at least 11 courses in literature, as well as a single sustained piece of writing or a portfolio of shorter work. English professor David Bromwich, PC '73, GRD '77, explained that students within the writing concentration need just as much exposure to literature as other English majors do. "One should never underestimate the power of literature in teaching students how to write," he said. "We try to expose them to as many genres as possible to give them an example to emulate."

Hammer echoed this sentiment, "We in the English department also think we help students learn to write by helping them to learn to read deeply and above all to recognize the ways in which literature matters," he said.

Teaching writing through the study of literature is a common approach throughout all the Ivy League institutions. But Harvard boasts a creative writing faculty that is well known in the literary world, including Irish poet and Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney, Jorie Graham, and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Professors regularly invite writers to visit their classes.

Brad Watson, a lecturer at Harvard, explained Harvard's approach to teaching creative writing. "Creative writing teachers here teach stories, poems, essays, memoirs and novels, and encourage students to read them as writers, not just as critics. This broadens a student's perspective as a reader and as a writer."

Watson and the Harvard English faculty encourage students to attend readings sponsored by other organizations and post publication and prize opportunities. "Beyond that it's up to the individual instructor to encourage students to send in stories, poems and essays to magazines and publishing houses. All of us discuss the business of publication to some degree." Watson added that he has put students in touch with editors several times this semester.

Supporters of creative writing at Yale stress that Yale's student writing community is equally vibrant. "Yale has been active in putting students in contact with the professional literary world aside from regular classes and residential college seminars. Students write outside the classroom," Hammer said. "The evidence is in student magazines and in the careers Yale writers go on to have."

Some students, however, feel that their oppurtunities in the creative writing field are limited. Erika Potter, JE '00, said that the lack of creative writing classes during her freshman and sophomore years steered her away from majoring in English. "I took the standard non-fiction writing course, English 120, freshman year and loved it," Potter said. "But when I looked at the Blue Book under the requirements for the English major, I realized I could only use two writing courses toward the major. I definitely wondered if there would be enough oppurtunities for me to pursue my interests in writing." After conferring with upperclassmen in her major, she decided against the writing concentration.

"Yale supports young writers in all sorts of ways," Hammer said. "Some of these come through the classroom. We extended our faculty in the past few years and we have a truly distinguished group of writers that are also committed to teaching." Whether or not they will bear fruit, these changes are a welcome improvement for Yale's aspiring writers.

Graphic by Shawn Cheng.

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