Scripps College celebrates the “National Day on Writing” on Wednesday, October 21, 2009, with a variety of activities hosted by the Scripps Writing Program, 3-9 p.m., in the Scripps College Writing Center, located in the Routt-Frankel Annex. The activities are free and open to the public.
The U.S. Senate recently passed a resolution declaring October 20 as the “National Day on Writing,” and encourages participation in the National Gallery of Writing, which serves as an exemplary living archive of the centrality of writing in the lives of Americans. At the Gallery’s website, writers are able to browse their galleries, contribute writing, and create a gallery of their own.
To commemorate this special occasion, Scripps faculty members and students are creating a virtual gallery of their own writing to appear in the National Gallery of Writing. The Gallery’s website is constructed by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), with the intention to “recognize the diversity and creativity of writing in the 21st century, and feature a ‘cross-section of everyday writing’ by writers of ‘every age, profession, and walk of life’,” says Scripps Professor Kimberly Drake.
Drake, director of The Writing Program and visiting associate professor, along with other Scripps faculty, will conduct short, creative writing workshops and read from their own writing and works of their favorite authors. Students will also read from their writing and create magnetic poetry, group stories, and haiku that will be posted on Scripps’ local writing gallery, Our Writers’ Bloc(k): Scripps College Writers.
Highlighting the creative writing of Scripps’ faculty and students coincides with our celebration of the inaugural year of President Lori Bettison-Varga with the theme “The Genius of Women.” Throughout the year, Scripps is celebrating women’s creativity and leadership by showcasing guest speakers, writers, scientists, artists, and other thought leaders on campus. Scripps College is the only Women’s College on the West Coast ranked among the top 25 liberal arts institutions in the United States. Many inaugural events will take place throughout the year, leading up to Inauguration Weekend, March 26-28, 2010.
For more information about this event or the Scripps College gallery, please contact Professor Kimberly Drake, director, Scripps Writing Program, or Glenn Simshaw, director, Scripps Writing Center.