“I went to submit my paper on canvas. The wifi was down.”
This was just one of the many two-sentence horror stories written in the Young Student Center this past Tuesday, October 20.
Students and faculty could stop by the table where the Keene State College Center for Writing celebrated the National Day on Writing for the third time. Several writing activities like the two-sentence horror story were showcased during the event, which was held between 12 and 3 p.m.
Assistant to the Center for Writing and KSC alumnus Cyndi Glover said that the National Day on Writing celebrates writing itself on a personal, professional and civic level.
According to Glover, this is the third year the Center for Writing will be celebrating the National Day on Writing and the first since 2010, when she was still a student. The event was also hosted back in 2009 and 2010.
Colton McCracken / Equinox Staff
KSC junior Sarah Lennon was one of the tutors working the event. Although this was her first year celebrating the National Day on Writing, Lennon said she has worked events put on by the Center for Writing before and was surprised by the turnout of this particular event.
“There’s more [people interested] than I expected,” Lennon said. She continued, “When we did the involvement fair our table was not as aesthetically pleasing as this. We were just like ‘hey, hey do you want a bookmark?’ and people were like ‘uhhh…sure’ so this is definitely getting more attention than we have previously.”
In regards to advertising, Glover said the Center for Writing made sure to create fliers for the event as well as make postings on the Keene State event page and their own Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
Glover also mentioned how the event’s activities have changed over the years. “The first year because we were really introducing the celebration there was a lot of confusion as to what we were doing and then the second year it was a little bit more understood. And the second year we did it we had a higher turnout, full classrooms were brought; rather than people having classes they brought their ITWs,”Glover said.
Although the celebration this year did not host flash workshops like in 2010, students and faculty were still able to enjoy writing exercises like constructing their own two-sentence horror stories and six-word memoirs. Other activities available were Caption This, in which participants tried to create the best caption for a provided picture, and Haiku for a Treat, which rewarded cookies or cupcakes to participants who wrote haikus. Along with these activities, the table also featured word puzzles and a section where students could list their favorite writing assignments from previous classes.
KSC senior Nathan Brown, currently in his third year as a peer tutor at the Center for Writing, was also present at the event. According to Brown, the event’s most popular activity was “the haiku for a treat because you get a cupcake or a cookie.”
Although the sweets may be tempting to some, Brown said the biggest draw was the Aroma Joe’s gift card that was up for grabs.
“Definitely one of the big draws is the gift card to Aroma Joe’s,” Brown said, “As soon as we mention that they’re just like ‘how many can I enter?’”
While participants could partake in multiple writing activities for a chance to win the gift card, Brown explained that only submissions for Haiku for a Treat, Caption This, the two-sentence horror story and the six-word memoir were eligible to win the gift card. In order to enter the running, participants just had to write their names and Keene State emails on the back of their entries.
“The way we [are] going about it is we look at all the entries with names on the back. We judge them to see which one is the best and then we’ll email that person saying ‘you won!’”Brown said.
Although the gift card got many interested in the event, Glover said the main idea was to get participants thinking creatively and exposing them to writing.
“A lot of people don’t realize that’s what we’re trying to do with the writing center…This year we were just really trying to introduce the idea, bring up awareness both of the National Day on Writing as well as the Center for Writing,” Brown said. She continued, “This is my seventh year with the center…it’s an environment that I’ve become very passionate about, very ingrained in, and I just can’t foresee not being a part of it. These kinds of things, sharing those passions with the campus at large, it’s important to both me and the staff.”
Max Blanchette can be contacted at mblanchette@kscequinox.com
