Grand Valley State University Writing Department

Today, we honor Juneteenth: a celebration of freedom, resilience, and the enduring journey toward equality. Let's not only reflect on history but also embrace the opportunity to learn from each other, fostering understanding and unity. ✊🏽

Grand Rapids Poet Laureate Christine Stephens-Krieger is looking for interns for summer 24 and fall 24 to work on two projects: her Twilight Tribe documentary and the Oral History of Grand Rapids. These sound like great opportunities for writing majors! Query Christine at [email protected].

We just saw the results of the 2024 Dyer-Ives Poetry Contest sponsored by Grand Rapids Public Library. Huge congrats to Writing majors Brooke Rempalski (1st place, undergraduate) and Kallie Crouch (3rd place undergraduate), and Visiting Professor Alyssa Evans (Hon. Mention, Adult)! We are so lucky to have you as part of our Writing and Campus Communities at Grand Valley State University!

https://www.grpl.org/dyer-ives/

The semester was done a week ago and it’s been awesome seeing everyone’s graduation photos. Here’s what it’s like here without you. Have a great summer everyone.

At tonight’s Senior Celebration, we acknowledged and celebrated this year’s graduating class of Writing Majors. Go Lakers! Go Writers! We will miss you!

When you see Ian Ouzts, please remember to congratulate him for winning the 2024 GVSU Poetry Prize with his poem “Backwards Teething!”

Hey, congratulate them when you see them, Al Gastmeier for winning the 2024 GVSU Poetry Prize with their poem “Rhapsody at World’s End!”

Today we said bon voyage to Prof. Kay Losey who leaves the Writing Department after many years of teaching at Grand Valley State University. Happy retirement to you, Prof. Losey!

The OPW - GVSU student group will chat with Ami Hendrickson, a professional writing coach, to learn about the skills useful for a successful career in writing and how a writing coach can help reach your goals. This event is a collaboration with the Michigan Great Lakes chapter of STC (STC Michigan Great Lakes). Students register for FREE!

The new issue of INWRITING is here—the official newsletter of the GVSU Writing Department is now available on campus or you can download a PDF from our website!
tinyurl.com/gvinw

Thank you OPW - GVSU and everyone for coming out for "Real Talk!"

There were a lot of great conversations at the Writing Department “Real Talk” event tonight, sponsored by OPW. Thank you to all the professionals who so generously shared their time and expertise with our students.

ALIE(NATION) is a student created and student produced venture, a publication that believes in the power of art to protest the violence, suffering, and displacement of the Palestinian people. Submissions close on May 5. See their website for more information.
https://sites.google.com/mail.gvsu.edu/alienation/about?authuser=0

The GVSU Writing Department is currently looking to hire multiple visiting faculty to start in Fall 2024, four to teach first year writing and one to teach business communication. These are non tenure track with one year contracts renewable up to three years. Please apply or spread the word to those who might be interested or benefit from knowing about these jobs. Visit our website for more information.

Department of Writing - Grand Valley State University Knowing how to construct texts that appeal to different audiences is a critical skill for the 21st century. With the proliferation of online and accelerated communication, the ability to tell a story that engages and persuades an audience is more important than ever. A degree in writing can help you...

The Department of Writing will be hosting a “Real Talk: The Truth About Employer Expectations” event on April 18, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Chamberlain Room, Frederik Meijer Honors College, in Allendale. The event aims to provide students with “real talk” about what employers are looking for in new hires alongside job application tips and other professional insights. Students will spend time at different stations, each with a different focus such as résumés, networking, or interviewing. Food and drink will be provided.

See link in bio to RSVP by April 15 to secure your spot!

If you are looking for electives, Digital Studies courses are a great option. Maybe consider DS 310, Digital Preservation and Archiving. You will explore the changing nature of digital content and develop digital literacy skills in the name of understanding the importance of the integrity of digital information.

DS also offers Gen Ed Issues courses: DS 360, Ethics in Digital Culture (fall), DS 340, Identity and Representation (winter), and DS 350, Social Media in Culture (fall and winter), that can be used as electives.

If you have any questions about DS courses, check out their website at gvsu.edu/ds

GV Writers Series guest Andrew Leland speaking right now about pitching, editing, writing for magazines, and about writing the book you want to see in the world. Come hear Leland read from his new book The Country of the Blind tonight (W 4/3) at 6pm in LOH 174!

Tomorrow (4/3), join us for a craft talk and nonfiction reading with Andrew Leland, who is here as part of the Grand Valley Writers Series! Check out our website (link in bio) for more details.
https://tinyurl.com/gvleland

Announcing the 2024 GVSU Poetry Prize! Two winning poets will receive a modest cash prize and have their work printed as a broadside and displayed on campus. They will also be honored at the Writing Department Awards Event on Friday, April 26. This contest is open to current GVSU students.

DEADLINE: Noon, Wednesday, April 10
(Note: this is a firm deadline because of the timeline for judging. Late submissions will not be considered.)

HOW TO SUBMIT: Poets may submit up to three poems of their own composition. Each poem must be no more than 25 lines; poems longer than 25 lines will not be considered. Place all poems in a single PDF file. Your name or other identifying information must not appear on the poems themselves. Email your single PDF file to Writing Professor Todd Kaneko ([email protected]). In the body of the email, include your name and contact information and the titles of your poems. Use “GVSU Poetry Prize 24” as the subject line.

If you have questions, please contact Professor Todd Kaneko ([email protected]) or see our website for more information.

https://tinyurl.com/gvpp24

Writing alum Tyler Fleser has a new story online at Bu****it Lit. You can read it now.
bullsh*tlit.com/blog/tfleser

Calling all 2013 & 2018 grads! 🎓 How well did Grand Valley State University prepare you for the real world? Your input matters and will help the next generation of Lakers. 🎁 Take this 10 minute survey for a chance to win one of several $100 Amazon gift cards at gvsu.edu/alumni/survey

Student Reading Series returns this Friday 3/22, 1-2:30, KC 2201. Come share your work, or just come to listen!

This poem, "History" by Linda Hogan for Womens History Month. Poem and screenshots from Poets.org. .

Hey, writers. Part of being a writer is not just writing and reading, but also recharging—so next week is GVSU's Spring Break and we hope you can take this time to recharge, even though you might be working or catching up in your classes or whatever. Take some time for yourself because you deserve it. We'll see you back on March 11, or sometime around then.

[Photo from Adobe Stock]

Are you a student interested in attending the STC.Org Summit? Summit is the annual conference put on by the Society of Technical Communication, which is the oldest and largest professional organization of its kind. This year, the theme for Summit is "Tech Comm in Action" and will feature several How Tos (how to use software/tools, how to network/get a job, how to use AI in the workplace, etc). The conference will take place inside the hotel at Mall of America in Minneapolis. GVSU Professor of Writing Kylie Jacobsen will coordinate all the volunteers at the conference. Email her with questions.

Attend this event for advice and discussion with graduates from GVSU Classics English, History, Modern Languages and Literature, Philosophy, Visual and Media arts, and Writing. Find out what a group of past humanities majors from GVSU are doing, how they got there, and the advice they would give to current students.

Jacob DeWeerd (2022, WRT major and DS minor) is going to be the alum from WRT. He’s currently working on his MS in communication at GVSU while he’s working as an admissions recruiter, and he worked as a content creator for Geonexus.

From our friends at the Grand Rapids Public Library: Calling all emerging and established poets! 📣

The Dyer-Ives Poetry Competition kicks off beginning February 1, 2024. Kent County residents and students attending classes within Kent County (including GVSU) are invited to submit an original poem. Winners selected in different categories will have their poems published in "Voices," receive a cash award, and participate in a live reading during Festival of the Arts in June. Learn more ⟶ www.grpl.org/dyer-ives/

The Dyer-Ives Poetry Competition is funded by the Grand Rapids Public Library Foundation, Dyer-Ives Foundation Poetry Fund.

The Oldenburg Writing Contest is hosted by our friends in English Department, Grand Valley State University in conjunction with the Writing Department. and Classics. There are cash prizes in multiple genres open to all current Grand Valley State University undergrad and graduate students. Entries are due by March 17, 2024. See the GVSU English dept. website for details and to submit!
www.gvsu.edu/english/oldenburg

Congratulations to Prof. Zsuzsanna Palmer for her Internationalization Award and Prof. Michelle Calkins for her Burch, Jacobs, and Moore Diversity Teaching Excellence Award as part of this year's university awards at GVSU. We are proud of you and happy to be with you in Writing!
https://www.gvsu.edu/provost/faculty-awards-convocation-310.htm

A broadside for “Birthright” by GVSU writing prof Todd Kaneko. Come get one at today’s Grand Valley Writers Series event featuring him and Chris Haven. 2/13, 11:30am, Mary Idema Pew Library Multipurpose room. See the link in our bio for more info.