This week, lovers of literature gathered in a room lit with incandescent spotlights shining on art pieces to listen to local writers share their work. The room was silent as they read, as if time stopped and everyone was soaking up every word that was spoken. The Visiting Writers Series serves as a celebration of creative writing.
The series, located in the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, highlighted three professors and writers from the University of Idaho: Michael McGriff, Thomas Dai and Alexandra Teague. They started by reading their personal writing from their published books or standalone poetry. After, there was a Q&A where attendees asked about general writing tips and about specific things in the professors’ work they had read.
Dai, an essayist and assistant professor at UI, read passages from his new book, “Say My Name but Say It Slow,” at the event.
Dai said getting to read in the art museum was a great experience and the art was a nice backdrop for the readings. He said everything went smoothly and it was an enjoyable experience.
“I thought it was splendid,” Dai said. “The questions were really lovely and I thought our readings kind of aligned nicely and flowed….Many of our alums teach in this department, I’m learning. So, this sense of those enduring bonds, it was lovely to be a part of that.”
Along with Dai, Teague teaches creative writing and is chair of English at UI. She is a poet who writes both fiction and nonfiction.
During the reading, Teague read four poems from her book, “Ominous Music Intensifying,” as well as a solo poem, “Lonestar State.” She shared that one of the highlights for her was being able to do this event with her colleagues as writers.
“It’s just a joy to hear them read,” said Teague. “I always love reading with other people, where there are those unplanned overlaps between things that we read and that conversation that happens. The fact that [the] conversation is also with the space with the amazing art and then the questions that people ask. It’s been a beautiful night.”
McGriff is a professor of English and director of the creative writing program at UI. He is a poet and has multiple poetry collections.
He read four poems and excerpts from his new book, “Inquest.” McGriff said the Writers Series was a nice break from his routine and was glad to visit WSU. He said he also enjoyed the event and hearing the other writers read.
“I think that the WSU English department and the University of Idaho English department have an unusual amount of working writers,” said McGriff. “People who don’t just write one book, but keep writing books until they get old and decrepit. It’s just a robust arts community.”
Both WSU and UI students and faculty attended the Writers Series.
UI first-year student, Renee Cuny, is in the MFA program with a focus on fiction. She said she knows the writers as professors, so she loved hearing them outside the classroom.
“All of our professors are people with their own lives, but they’re so actively and so passionately pursuing their own paths and their own writing,” said Cuny. “It was very nice to see them in action.”
Alejandra Wangnon is also a first-year student at UI in the creative writing MFA program on the nonfiction track. She said she appreciated the event and the opportunity to hear the writing out loud.
“I feel like writing can feel like such an isolating kind of art or profession,” Wagnon said. “So this event served as a great reminder of the community that you can have not only with fellow writers, but with people from all disciplines and all areas of life that just enjoy writing and reading.”
WSU’s Visiting Writers Series celebrated local writers and professors. The event also highlighted a variety of genres in creative writing. The literary community in this smaller region may seem nonexistent at times, but events like these show they are there and creating.
“We’re incredibly fortunate in this slightly remote area to have two universities with thriving reading series, writing programs and fantastic writers,” said Teague. “I think being able to bring those together and celebrate that is just really fortunate.”
