Math, business, and English majors all have something in common: creativity, of course.

The WSU English department’s Visiting Writer Series will bring Ted Tremper to campus this week to put on a four-day, one-credit workshop on creativity that will appeal to  a wide-range of majors. On Thursday he will also put on a presentation, which will be open to all students.

WSU alumnus Tremper, a comedian, writer, and filmmaker, joked a possible title for the presentation could be “Everything That I Know That I Know.”

Tremper said his presentation will focus on trying to present every single thing he wishes he had known at WSU and will use videos, music, photographs, quotes, and prose to do so.

The workshop will involve improvisation and writing comedy, Debbie Lee, professor of English at WSU and co-director of the Visiting Writer Series, said. The workshop seminar course will take place Nov. 10-14.

“I’m very, very excited,” Tremper said. “I really loved the time that I spent (at WSU).”

Tremper said the way he feels about college is the way he probably felt about kindergarten when he was in college.

“You’re as old as you will ever be when you’re experiencing life,” he said. “College was just the beginning.”

Lee said the program is really excited to bring him because he is a performer.

“He has a real passion for talking to students about how their degree at WSU can translate to a life,” Lee said.

Tremper understands what students are going through, she said.

“I think the main thing that Ted offers current students is the idea of what’s possible,” said Buddy Levy, clinical associate professor in English and author of five books.

Anyone interested in leading a creative life will enjoy his presentation, Tremper said, as the main focus is developing the creative process.

“It’s falling in love with your creative process,” Tremper said.

Any work that someone is going to do requires creativity, and every major would benefit from hearing the talk, he said.

His presentation will address how to think about your education and how you translate it, Lee said. He addresses the world outside of school.

“That’s a question that looms for everybody,” Lee said.

Levy said he is looking forward to seeing what Tremper does because sometimes you have no idea what he’s going to do.

“I guarantee he will be significantly different than the traditional readings that we get through the Visiting Writer Series,” Levy said.

Lee said Tremper will discuss how to think about your education as you move to the workplace and to the larger world outside of school.

The presentation will go beyond the simple “get out your resume,” Lee said.

Levy came up with the idea to bring Tremper back to campus and said he first met Tremper in an English creative writing class in Thompson Hall and was immediately struck by him.

“There was a spark about him,” he said. “He was very funny. He was very self-assured.”

Within a few class periods, Levy said he was certain that he could let Tremper take over and he could do just fine running the class.

“I was pretty sure he was already running it anyway,” he said.

After getting his degree as an English major with an emphasis in creative writing from WSU, Tremper attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

He has been a member of Chicago’s The Second City comedy troupe and has created an award-winning web series.

“He illustrates how it helps to be kind of a chameleon,” Levy said.

Levy said Tremper has changed his colors a few times.

“Success is a process,” Levy said. “There are peaks and valleys along the way.”

However, Levy said Tremper has persisted.

“He can bring to students the real story of what it’s like to grind it out in the trenches trying to pursue a creative life and profession,” he said.  

Levy said Tremper has experience with performing, directing, and writing. He has seen Tremper perform before and has been impressed with his tenacity.

“The biggest thing I’ve learned is to keep learning,” Tremper said. “Life has absolutely no rules whatsoever.”