So what goes on in
this course? Greg Byrd's Spring 2003 Creative Writing Class
Creative writing at SPC consists of the three credit course CRW 2000 which gives students experience in both fiction and poetry.
So what goes on in
this course?
Prerequisite: ENC 1101, ENC 1121 or ENC 1151.
This course is offered for students desiring experience in
such forms as the short story, poetry, the novel, etc. and is conducted under workshop
conditions. The class will discuss outstanding contemporary writers' work as patterns and
also read and analyze the student's writing assignments. Each student may specialize in
one literary form in a term project, as determined in a conference with the instructor.
This course has a substantial writing requirement. Three hours weekly.
Classes at SPC-Clearwater often involve visits from nationally established local writers such as Peter Meinke, Henry Taylor (Spring 2001) and Dionisio Martinez (Fall 2001). Students occasionally may present their work in an end-of-semester reading on campus.
SPC-Clearwater regularly hosts writers of national recognition. Recent writers include novelist Connie Mae Fowler, Pulitzer Prize winning poet Henry Taylor and poet Dionisio Martinez (winner of an NEA grant). Short story writer Mary Jane Ryals read her work in the spring of 2002.
What do student
writers do after taking the course?
Former SPC-Clearwater creative writing students have matriculated to UCF, Eckerd College, New College and USF where they have continued their writing in advanced workshops. One example is Scott Temple, who transferred to Appalachian State University in North Carolina where he received a B.F.A. in Creative Writing / Fiction. Scott is currently studying fiction in the M.F.A. program at Sarah Lawrence College in New York City. Another example is Eckerd College graduate Bill Boden who took creative writing at SPC as a way of finding fellowship and inspiration after graduating from Eckerd.
Who takes Creative Writing at SPC-Clearwater?
All sorts of people! Our classes, which are usually offered in the evenings and occasionally during the day, benefit from a mix of young hipsters, elementary and high school teachers, returning students and retirees. This eclectic mixture assures a vital interaction between students which helps them to develop and revise their style, work and ideas. This is a particularly good class for those desiring an introduction to creative writing in general, whether for personal fulfillment or as the beginning of an academic major in creative writing.
Who teaches Creative Writing at SPC-Clearwater?
Gregory Byrd, Professor
Ph.D., American Literature, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
M.A. Creative Writing, Florida State
University
B.A. English and Creative Writing, Eckerd College
Professor Byrd, who won an Academy of American Poets Prize at FSU in 1988 and the Ann Durham Award for Outstanding Thesis in Creative Writing at FSU, has published poetry, essays and short fiction in local and national journals, among them Tampa Review, International Quarterly, College English, Birmingham Poetry Review, Poet Lore and Scarp (Australia). In 1998, Tampa Review nominated his poem "Theory of Gravity" for a Best of the Small Presses Pushcart Prize and also in 1998, Byrd was a featured poet in Pinyon Poetry's Spring 1998 issue. He has taught creative writing at SPC-Clearwater since 1992 and has also taught as a guest poet for the Tampa YMCA Writer's Voice.
"I enjoy helping beginning writers develop both their craft and their voice," Professor Byrd says. "The craft is so important because it provides an essential 'how to,' the nuts and bolts of writing poems or stories. An individual writer's voice is a very personal and particular thing that develops from the writer's own personality, as well as from the things he or she reads and loves. So in my classes, I have my students read lots of other writers. I also work a lot on the craft: how to use images, construct a plot, write formal and informal poems. As all of this comes together, the writer's voice begins to emerge and we work with that on a one-on-one level. Students also help themselves a great deal in my classes through workshopping and other peer work."
Karen Sidwell, Professor
M.S.E. Auburn University
B.A. Ouachita Baptist University
Professor Sidwell is a short story writer and poet from Arkansas where she picked up some of the southern themes in her writing. She has taught Creative Writing at SPJC-Clearwater since 1997 and is active in a local writers’ group. Prior to coming to SPJC, she developed and taught a playwriting and production course for high school students. Her work has appeared in regional publications such as the Pine Bluff Commerical and Reflections. In addition, a computer program that she designed appeared on the Apple Community College Alliance CD in 1992. Professor Sidwell also gives poetry readings and speaks to groups about writers and writing. In spring 2002 she will write and direct a play for African American Awareness Month.
"I believe that creativity is essential to humankind, that is must be nurtured in each individual, that it must be given an appropriate expressive outlet," says Professor Sidwell. "That belief is why I enjoy helping beginning writers to discover their craft, their voice, their audience. I cover the aspects of writing craft through the student’s own writings, classmates’ writings, and published writings. I employ one-on-one teacher/student conferences and peer workshops as I work with each student."
Books
on Creative Writing in the SPC-Clearwater Library.
Click
here for some helpful sites for creative writers.
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This site is maintained by Gregory Byrd and Karen Sidwell and was last updated on December 3, 2002.
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