Creative writing author contributes to publication party

By Chris O'Connell

Slouched in a desk among students in professor Kirk Glaser's fiction writing class, author Jim Shepard smirked. "I never planned to be a writer. My plan was I'd write covertly and people would give me food."

Behind his sarcastic sense of humor, Connecticut native Shepard writes with careful and thorough consideration.

"As a writer, you hope someone, somewhere is going to read your work and be changed," Shepard, the author of six novels and two short story collections, said.

He said he believes the role of fiction and creative writing has diminished in American society. Reading, he said, is not as important to people today and overall numbers of readers are dropping.

But this has not kept Shepard from writing.

Shepard, along with student authors, read selections from his latest short story collection at the de Saisset art museum for the Santa Clara Review publication party last Wednesday.

Shepard was warmly introduced by friend, fellow writer and Santa Clara professor Ron Hansen.

"(Creative writing) teaches us how we live and how to live," Shepard said.

Hansen also finds creative writing important, in that it "requires introspection and it also requires empathy."

Hansen said that traits, such as empathy and self-reflection, embody the mission of Santa Clara, developing compassion for others and a greater understanding of oneself.

Adrianne Anderson, poetry editor at the Santa Clara Review, said that the university's biyearly literary magazine receives hundreds of submissions.

Junior Neil Ferron calls himself a writer simply because he writes.

"Maybe I am not a 'good' writer or a 'professional' writer, but I am some kind of 'writer,'" Ferron said. "Writing pulls me closer to myself and to other people. It gives people a voice, something beyond the regular lips and tongue, allowing people to connect to each other by sharing experiences and enjoying expression."

Brendan Lax, a senior English major who writes because he is "in wonder of other people's words," also emphasized the worth of creative writing.

"Creative writing manages to always provide a criticism of life, and it affords readers an interesting and revealing way of looking at the world around them," Lax said. "Good writing helps us to examine the problems in the world, as well as what is beautiful and good."

Although Anderson receives many student pieces, her job as an editor is often difficult.

"It's hard to reject people's work," Anderson added. "I've received the most beautiful pieces, some of them I connected with very deeply. But I think what differentiates some is their underdeveloped craft and that just comes with experience and reading and practice."

Both Ferron and Lax have taken creative writing classes at Santa Clara, an opportunity which some believe can assist in developing writing skills.

Professor Claudia McIsaac, director of the university's creative writing program, is also a supporter of creative writing classes.

"Creative writing classes make it possible for students to grow as creative writers," McIsaac said. She said improvement has more to do with hard work and attention to craft than mere talent.

Shepard said he began seriously writing as an undergraduate at Trinity College in Hartford. Shepard, now a professor at Williams College, said he values creative writing classes because they create deadlines for writers and offer writers immediate feedback on their work.

Hansen, who teaches creative writing at Santa Clara, said he tells young writers to remember that they know more than they think they know, and that they've experienced hundreds of stories that can be turned into fiction.

"There is so much emphasis in our culture on profit and the bottom line," McIsaac added. "Creative writing taps into different parts of ourselves; it tells us what it means to be human."

û Contact Christopher O'Connell at (408) 554-4546 or coconnell@scu.edu.