Everyone has letters they cannot part with, text messages that they refuse to delete, and brag-worthy freshman English essays that haven’t seen the light of day in years. Now, these pieces of writing can be showcased during a nationwide writing event.
On Oct. 20, schools and colleges across the United States will be participating in the first National Day on Writing. Sam Houston State University has several activities planned to allow students and faculty to participate in this event.
Congress declared the National Day on Writing as a nationally recognized event on Oct. 8 and plans have been made rapidly since then.
The first event SHSU will be offering is an open poetry and fiction reading in the Farrington Pit at 12:30 p.m. Students and faculty are encouraged to attend and share their work.
There will also be an open-house reception for faculty and staff in the Writing Center from 2:00-4:00 p.m. All faculty members are invited to meet the tutors and tour the Writing Center.
The highlight of this event is the opening of the National Gallery of Writing. Each participating school will have their own online gallery where students and staff members can submit any piece of work for the gallery. Submissions will be available for viewing through June 2010.
The National Day on Writing focuses on the types of writing that are not generally considered worthy of publication.
“We write on paper, post-its, computers, we even write on phones. We text, twitter, facebook, blog, email, we write all of the time, but so much of our everyday writing goes unnoticed and uncelebrated. That’s what we want to highlight on the National Day on Writing: the notion that we are a generation of writers,” said Writing Center director Ann Theodori.
Dr. Carroll Ferguson Nardone believes that this event will allow SHSU to give writing the respect and attention it deserves.
“We all pay attention to the new “gee whiz” gadgetry that comes about and think it makes our lives better. Writing is relegated to the background. This is one day we can take the uncelebrated nature of writing, focus on its impact on our lives, and remind ourselves to celebrate the thing that really does make the world go around,” said Nardone.
For more information on the National Day on Writing, please contact Carroll Nardone at 294-1472, Ann Theodori at 294-1438 or visit http://www.ncte.org/day on writing.