Usually I can sleep in until 9:30, hurriedly get dressed, and get myself to class right on time. Today, though, I was up early for the annual Undergraduate Literature and Creative Writing Conference. For the eighth year, the conference brings together undergraduate students, not only from Susquehanna but from other colleges as well, to present scholarly papers and creative works. It also features speakers.
My panel was at the crazy early time of 8:30 a.m.—the same time that I had to read last year! I’ll admit that this year was much more convenient, though, since last year it snowed and I had a much farther and wetter trek to the campus center, Degenstein.
Despite this 8:30 a.m. time, my friend Sarah (she’s also my Big from Alpha Phi Omega) showed up to support me, which meant a lot. It’s always nice during these kinds of events to know there’s at least one person there to see you.
The other readers on my panels had interesting things to say though it’s a bit hard to focus when you’re getting nervous. Two of the readers shared scholarly papers, one on Faustus, the other on Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, and the other Susquehanna student read poetry.
I was sharing a part of my Scholar’s House project by reading an excerpt of my Christian Young adult novel Who Makes Things Grow. I think my voice was a bit shaky at first, but after a few pages, I got into the swing of things. Though I’m not in as far as I’d like to be in the novel, and though I certainly didn’t share a polished draft, I was pleased, overall, with the excerpt I shared. There was a lot of dialogue, but it was pretty representative of the tone of the writing. I also managed to get some amused smiles at certain lines; that’s always appreciated.
Afterwards, attendees had a chance to ask questions. I was asked about why I thought writing about religion was important for teenagers, which I was able to answer both with personal experience and some of the knowledge I attained from writing my sophomore essay (though, in hindsight, I can’t help but wish that I had more of that information ready to articulate). Someone else drew a connection between me and another presenter’s use of visual art in our writing. One of my main characters is a collage artist, and one of the dominant scenes in the excerpt featured him doing a collage of the cross. I talked a little bit about the role of art in establishing his character and conflict with his friends. Again, in afterthought, I have many things I’d like to add to that explanation. All in all, though, none of the questions caught me too off-guard, unlike last year when I was stumped by a question from a professor.
The panel ended early, and with some time to spare, Sarah and I grabbed breakfast—an act that’s tremendously rare in my world. I also got a cancelled class out of the conference since English professors spend their day there.
Soon I’ll probably attend the reading of visiting writer Joy Castro. I’m not familiar with her work, but a lot of my friends are going and it should be interesting.
All in all, I had a good experience with the conference today, and it's made me feel more prepared for the reading I'll eventually be doing for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
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