The English department might be the only group at the University who gets excited when the city’s surroundings start to mimic those of the Arctic Tundra.
The mind-numbing winds mean the department gets to showcase the written word during their fifth annual Winter Wheat. “The Mid-American Review” Festival of Writing began yesterday and will last through Sunday.
The festival kick-off began with Steve Almond, a noteworthy author made popular by his two short story collections, “My Life in Heavy Metal” and “The Evil B.B. Chow,” reading some of his fictional stories.
The Winter Wheat festival also provides a basis for learning creative writing. Numerous workshops and panels for writers of all skill levels will be given throughout the weekend for students who are looking to achieve anything and everything from poetry to simple sentence structure assistance.
But, perhaps more importantly, the festival allows participants to embrace their love of writing.
“Winter Wheat started as a result of simple serendipity – we [Mid-American Review editors] had invited three writers to campus, and all were free during the same weekend,” said Karen Craigo, coordinator of the festival and the “Publishing Poetry for Inspiration” facilitator. “We saw that as an opportunity, and actually said, ‘Why not have a festival?’ That was five years ago, and we’ve been growing and moving forward ever since.”
And grown it has. The event once incorporated three writers and now has a weekend full of about 50 workshops that are free of charge to Bowling Green students.
Erik Esckilsen, English instructor and facilitator of the “Youth Stories Through Youth Narrators” workshop, is also looking forward to the program.
“We’re writers and avid readers, so organizing and hosting an event such as Winter Wheat allows us to share our enthusiasm with the community of like-minded artists and individuals outside our small graduate-school community,” Esckilsen said.
People outside the University are also elated about the event, including several creative writing alumni who will be holding a workshop titled, “Publishing in Magazines in the Midwest.”
Everyone involved in “Mid-American Review” encourages anyone interested in writing to attend one of the events sessions during this weekend.
“Winter Wheat is the highlight of the local literary year,” Craigo said. “People are coming from all over – from Milwaukee, New York, Georgia, Illinois, and beyond – just to experience the BGSU literary scene, which is vibrant and rollicking.”
Esckilsen also encourages students to come to the event to find that writing can be enjoyable, and doesn’t just need to be for long, college research papers.
“It’s important for students to know that writing … is not just something that happens at school,” Esckilsen said. “When students find themselves talking about the writing craft with people from the region … it brings home the idea that writing can be an enriching, life-long pursuit beyond the academic setting.”
A full schedule of events as well as registration information can be found at the Winter Wheat’s Web site, http://www.bgsu.edu/studentlife/organizations/midameicanreview/index.html.
Those interested can also stop by the English department’s office in East Hall.
Esckilsen recommended being ready to learn something new and have fun when you attend the event.
“I think that there are three main things that students will learn from the festival,” she said. “First, in choosing Winter Wheat sessions in which to participate, students discover new ways of looking at writing to which they may not have been exposed in the classroom. Second, the readings by our guest writers show students a public side of writing that is sometimes lost in the seemingly ceaseless process of churning academic papers for an audience of one – the instructor.
“Finally, students will learn that, despite the often solitary experience of writing, it’s an important, enriching experience that can be shared – and that sharing the experience can be an inspiration to keep writing.”