Thursday, Sept. 25, the ceremony for the recipient of the Eder Writing Scholarship was held in the Mason Library’s Center for Reading and Writing. Keyshaun Sullivan, a senior who majors in law and English, was the winner of the scholarship.
Sullivan started with an introduction to himself, notably his hometown, Tilton, and the book that he said inspired him, “My Side of the Mountain” by Jean Craighead George. He said one of his main driving factors in writing was to replicate how George was able to make the forest in the story feel like home.
After this introduction, Sullivan then read a total of eight poems. The first was named “The Business Rotation” which was inspired by an annoying hiring process by a tax agency. The second was called “The Little White Church of Eden”, inspired by a church in North Conway. The third being “Whimsy” which was about the Monadnock region. The fourth was not named but was inspired by his friend Jackson. The fifth was named “Autumn Love at the Deerfield Fair” which was inspired by its namesake, the Deerfield Fair. The sixth was named “The Silent Doberman” and the seventh named “Let Him Down Easy.” The eighth’s name was not retrieved as it was a French title, but it was inspired by his study of the French language.
“The first poem was my favorite because I really relate to annoying job hunts and just annoying jobs in general,” said first-year Patrick Gleich, who attended the event.
Sullivan then went on to read a short story titled “Among Gods and Butterflies,” a piece about a boy and his father in the woods on a snowy day hunting. It really reflects a mental state Sullivan was in at the time of writing it, even if that mental state is unclear. After he read the story it opened up to a Q & A section.
One audience member asked Sullivan, “What do butterflies mean?” He answered that in the past, he had a friend who was obsessed with butterflies and so now he relates butterflies with a sort of childlike innocence and sense of wonder. Another question that was asked was “What is your writing process?” Sullivan first said, “I should draft more.” He then went more in-depth, having said he tends to go into a zen flow state and simply just puts pen to paper and writes. He also said that he tends to focus on setting, saying, “I believe setting tells more than dialogue.”
Jaedin Bryan, a senior, said that “[Sullivan’s] tone and lyricism are amazing.”
Bryan also asked, “How did you achieve your way of speaking?” Sullivan replied he just had it with no real practice involved.
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