The Independent Scribe

Spring 2012 Deadline and Submission Guidelines

2012-01-31T16:08:00.001-05:00

The Independent Scribe is now accepting student-produced arts and literature submissions across a vast creative gambit of genre.

When in doubt - assume the Scribe is interested and please send it our way!

Who Can Submit We are currently accepting writing and artwork from undergraduates and graduate students solely from the University of Rhode Island. We are also thrilled to receive submissions from our alumni and faculty.

What to Submit No more than 5 poems or 25 pages of prose or other writing at a time. No more than 5 pieces of artwork at a time.

How to Submit Electronically, to theindependentscribe@gmail.com. Please send text submissions as .doc or .docx attachments; art submissions as .jpg attachments. Please do not include your name in the attached file to ensure the confidentiality of the blind review process.

When to Submit We work on a rolling submissions calendar, but only works received by March 19th will be considered for the Spring 2012 publication. All works received after the 19th will automatically be considered in the Fall 2012 submission pool.

We look forward to hearing from all the talented individuals in the University community.

Life in a Day (2011)

2011-11-01T18:32:00.001-04:00

Director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) and producer Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator) team up to offer this candid snapshot of a single day on planet Earth. Compiled from over 80,000 YouTube submissions by contributors in 192 countries, Life in a Day presents a microcosmic view of our daily experiences as a global society. From the mundane to the profound, everything has its place as we spend 90 minutes gaining greater insight into the lives of people who may be more like us than we ever suspected, despite the fact that we're separated by incredible distances.

The "69" Contest Winners and Honorable Mentions

2011-11-01T18:12:00.002-04:00

So, the results are in! We have the list of the contest winners and they are...

1st Place: Juliana Belizario with "A Bit of Red on my Skirt"

Runner up: Morgan Turano with "Legs: Part 1"

Some honorable mentions go out to...

Nick Rutter with "Players Cannot Love You When They're Playing"

Nick Manzolillo with "Never Sicker"

Kellie Knight with "Not Yet"

Do You 69? The Independent Scribe's Fall Contest Official Guidelines! Deadline October 11th!

2011-09-16T13:35:00.002-04:00

The Independent Scribe is currently accepting entrants into our bi-annual writing contest, and the question on our minds this Fall is "Do you 69?"

If you do (and we know you do), submit your submissions of 69 words or fewer to theindependentscribe@gmail.com !

Entries must have the following for a chance to win:

1. 69 words or fewer

2. A setting

3. One or more characters

4. Some conflict

5. A resolution

6. A title, which is not counted as part of the 69-word total, but cannot be more than seven words in length

All contest submissions are due by Tuesday, October 11th at 5:00PM!

Contest winner and runner-up will win a wet n' wild prize!

Fall 2011 Deadline and Submission Guidelines

2011-09-12T17:54:00.001-04:00

The Independent Scribe is now accepting student-produced arts and literature submissions, encompassing across a vast creative gambit of genre.

When in doubt - assume the Scribe is interested and please send it our way!

Who Can Submit We are currently accepting writing and artwork from undergraduates and graduate students solely from the University of Rhode Island. We are also thrilled to receive submissions from our alumni and faculty.

What to Submit No more than 5 poems or 25 pages of prose or other writing at a time. No more than 5 pieces of artwork at a time.

How to Submit Electronically, to theindependentscribe [at] gmail [dot] com. Please send text submissions as .doc attachments; art submissions as .jpg attachments. Remove writer's name from all submissions.

When to Submit We work on a rolling submissions calendar, but only works received by October 18th, 5PM will be considered for the Fall 2011 publication. All works received after 5PM on the 18th will be considered in the Spring 2012 submission pool.

We look forward to hearing from all the talented individuals in the University community.

We're back! Also, meeting times!

2011-09-12T17:34:00.006-04:00

The Independent Scribe website is back in its home at blogger.com. All our content from last semester will still be available at our tumblr address: http://theiscribe.tumblr.com/

The editorial board will meet this semester on Tuesdays from 5-7pm and Fridays 2-4pm in the Memorial Union room 202. We look forward to hearing from our lovely URI writers and artists at theindependentscribe@gmail.com

Now for some comic relief:

New Tumblr Site!

2011-02-28T14:47:00.002-05:00

We are currently transitioning this semester from this Blogger site to Tumblr.

Take a gander at what we have:

http://theiscribe.tumblr.com/

- Two new contests are underway, the cover-art contest and a writing contest

-Pictures of Nick Rutter at the Fall 2010 Launch Event

It is also connected to our Twitter account, RSS feeds are available, you can ask questions, and check the archive.

Fall 2010 Submission Guidelines

2010-08-25T14:43:00.002-04:00

The Independent Scribe is now accepting student-produced arts and literature submissions, encompassing across a vast creative gambit of genre.

When in doubt - assume the Scribe is interested and please send it our way!

Who Can Submit We are currently accepting writing and artwork from undergraduates and graduate students solely from the University of Rhode Island. We are also thrilled to receive submissions from our alumni.

What to Submit No more than 5 poems or 10 pages of prose or other writing at a time. No more than 5 pieces of artwork at a time.

How to Submit Electronically, to theindependentscribe [at] gmail [dot] com. Please send text submissions as .doc attachments; art submissions as .jpg attachments. Remove writer's name from all submissions.

When to Submit We work on a rolling submissions calendar, but only works received by November 1st, 4PM will be considered for the Fall 2010 publication. All works received after 4PM on the 1st will be considered in the Spring 2011 submission pool.

We look forward to hearing from all the talented individuals in the University community.

Fall 2010 Meeting Schedule and Deadline

2010-08-25T14:17:00.002-04:00

Hey all,

The start of the Fall 2010 semester is quickly approaching, and for the I-Scribe that means a new meeting schedule and a shiny new deadline! We will be accepting submissions for our Fall 2010 publication from now until November 1st at 4 pm. We hope to hear from all of our talented URI writers and artists.

This semester, we will be meeting on Mondays and Wednesdays from 4 - 6 pm in the Memorial Union room 202. If you are interested in being a part of our work, just stop by or shoot us an email at theindependentscribe@gmail.com.

Would You Look at That?

2010-04-29T12:51:00.006-04:00

Now in your choice of colors!

As long as you choose marigold or citron.

Woo hoo!

iScribe Interview Special - Poet-at-Law

2010-04-28T08:38:00.005-04:00

Name: Kate Stone

Major(s): English/Writing & Rhetoric

Year of Graduation: December 2009

Position: Featured writer (Spring 2010)

Click here to read about Kate's time as Editor-in-Chief

What is so intriguing about your poetry is that you encompass so many topics, from serious academic conversations to portraits of modern young womanhood that would make Carrie Bradshaw proud. Your body of work shows that you are indeed a complex person with a wide range of interests. Do you prefer to keep those interests separate in your work, or do you find that there is a relationship between the two?

I like for those interests to mingle as much as possible. I want my poetry to everything: To back pack across Europe with a rosary and a porcelain tea cup; flirt with all the boys; set off bottle rockets at midnight; sip bourbon and talk dirty at noon; wear five inch stilettos and a cowboy hat; collect Canivale masks; and order a bacon double cheeseburger with fries and a chocolate shake when everyone else is having salad... to name a few.

I think the relationships between the various topics in my work naturally find one another. I just can't seem to keep Virgina Woolf or D.H. Lawrence out of my life, especially because poetry can act as an evaluative tool in our lives, whether we intend for it to or not. I write about what I do, what I know, and apply the lessons I've picked up along the way. The result is personal verse, with other writers' voices, opinions, lives woven in.

I love how this question is written. The first two words of the second sentence, "Your body," following a statement about how my writing functions is fabulously intuitive. My body is just as involved in my poetic process as my mind: My body needs to feel it. If I'm writing and sitting still, something's not right; if I hit five lines that I just can't help but move my hips to, I know I'm really on to something. If nothing else, my poems need to dance. Preferably on tables and platforms.

We've missed having you at the Scribe, but were thrilled to receive your submissions. How have you been keeping busy this semester? What lies ahead after the summer?

I had the pleasure of heading down to Louisville, Kentucky in early March for the Conference of College Composition and Communication, where I chaired a panel and attended some really fascinating presentations. In addition to all things professional and academic, I also had the opportunity to let my hair down and really experience Kentucky: I rode a mechanical bull (and would every day for the rest of my life if I could!), became a Maker's Mark fanatic, ate my weight in Hot Browns and buzzed all the way home on my Sweet Tea-induced caffeine high. If you ever have a chance to get down there, I strongly suggest stopping by Fourth Street Live: Any tourist-ridden, architecturally-hip, outdoor collection of bars serving until 4AM in the bible belt complete with bouncers in cowboy boots is worth a visit in my book.

In addition to the occasional trip, I've been working as a model this spring and like the challenge of learning the ins and outs of a new business. I'm particularly enjoying the experience because I get the opportunity to embody the larger-than-life persona(s) I construct in my poetry in front of the camera; similarly to how I do so in my poems, the modeling enables me to be an -est version of myself and that's a feeling everyone loves every now and again. By this I mean I get to unleash the extremes of my personality, run with them, and I believe its in these parts of ourselves we find the truly interesting, whether that be fierce writing or great photographs or a fabulous new recipe for cupcakes. Sometimes you need to let the leash off for a while, trash around, be larger than life and find something fantastic in the mess you've made.

Law school is on the horizon after summer. I'd be lying if I said I'm not wary of the undeniably daunting years that are ahead, but I'm far more energized by the thought than I am concerned. I hear 1L is brutal; I'm ready to find something fantastic in that.

One of the pieces we have the honor of featuring this semester was previously published in Chronogram magazine. How does the real-world submission process compare to the Scribe? Was your previous experience with the Scribe helpful in preparing you to send your work elsewhere?

Submitting to The Independent Scribe is very much like submitting to publications outside of the URI community, with one exception: iScribe is particularly good about providing writers with feedback. Working on an editorial board provided me with tons of insight with regard to what editors look for; the experience is invaluable when it comes to submission preparation. At the end of the day though, submitting to anyone only takes a handful of characteristics: Solid writing you believe in, sincere professionalism, and nerve.

Is there one topic you are dying to sink your teeth into? Is there one you would never dare touch?

I'd estimate that approximately 80% of my poetry is inspired by people, including a number of pieces featured in The Independent Scribe. It's always the quiet ones I end up penning; I want to crack into their heads, know what they're thinking in all that silence. I imagine it must be something important, something scandalous, naughty, private, of national importance. Eventually I get impatient and fill the silence with poems. These pieces usually evolved into something larger than just a meditation about the individual, but may begin in this manner. No, I don't usually tell people which poem they prompted and yes, you've probably prompted one or two.

I'm also dying to write a poem about the Pine Barrens back home in New Jersey. I drive through them every time I go to the shore since I was a kid, but I've never tackled them for some reason. I love all the charred bark and silky paper Birch trees. I've a few lines jotted down in my phone, but nothing major yet.

The topics I'm hesitant to tackle today may be the one's I'm all over tomorrow. For the most part, I see my writing as a testament to my belief in writing what "you're not supposed to," or what other's won't dare to touch. If we don't tackle those topics in poetry, where will we ever open them up?

2010 English Department Contest Winners

2010-04-27T16:29:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Laura Tetreault, Shayne O'Sullivan, and Gillian Ramos!

On Friday, April 23rd, a few of the writers featured in the Spring 2010 edition of The Independent Scribe were honored at a ceremony hosted by the URI English Department, to celebrate their success in the department's annual contests.

Photo credit: Barbara Ramos

iScribe Interview Special - What's New, Pussycat?

2010-04-27T14:08:00.003-04:00

Name: Gillian Ramos
Major(s): English/Political Science
Year of Graduation: 2010
Position: President (2009-2010); featured writer (Spring 2010)

Congratulations on winning the Nancy Potter short story contest this year! Many have claimed "I never win anything!" Is this the first of many wins to come, or is snagging awards old hat in the world of Gillian Ramos?

Thank you! This is the first win, and I hope it's not the last. I started mailing out stories (this one, and "Glass") in February, and the responses have been trickling in.

So far, I'm 3 for 3 in the "no thanks" column, but I don't mind. It really is about the experience rather than the outcome - without the support I've gotten from the friends I made through the Scribe, I never would have done any mailings, or even entered the department contest!

Tell us a bit about your short story, "Pater Noster." Where did it originate, in thought and in reality?

"Pater Noster" came out of a semester's research on the religious right. It began in the summer of 2009 with the murder of Dr. George Tiller, by Scott Roeder, a well-known anti-abortion activist, self-proclaimed sovereign citizen, and Christian extremist; a man by the name of Frank Schaeffer was all over my news network of choice, talking about the extremism coming out of the religious communities across the country. It turns out, Frank Schaeffer and his family were the pioneers of what we know today as the religious right.

I read Schaeffer's memoir, Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back, and it blew my mind. Clearly, no one could foresee that the nexus of politics and religion would take a turn for the violent, as it did in the case of Dr. Tiller's death.

Seeing Frank Schaeffer talk so candidly about feeling like he's contributed to this mess, and wants nothing more than to repair the damage he helped create in the 1980s was so moving, and I knew there simply had to be a story in there somewhere.

And then the summer took a turn for the purely weird - a pair of political sex scandals (John Ensign's strange mix of business and pleasure & Mark Sanford's hike along the Appalachian Trail). This brought me to Jeff Sharlet's The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, which delves into the long entanglement between the Republican Party, big business, and religious fundamentalism.

The large scale of bad behavior and hypocrisy on the institutional level was fascinating, but somewhat unweildy for a short fiction approach. I found more personal narratives to better suit my needs in terms of finding an intimate, manageable story. I read Jesusland, a memoir by Julia Scheer, and Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement, an investigative piece by Kathryn Joyce. These two books simply broke my heart.

Without getting into it too much, I found the portrayal of marriage and father-daughter relationships in Quiverfull to be the base from which everything in my story would extend. When a daughter marries into a new family, she is essentially taken out of her birth family, literally having nothing to do with her parents. She is 100% her husband's "problem."

As for the story itself, "Pater Noster" is better known as the Lord's Prayer, which really lays out the tenets of Christianity and the expectation that we have to treat people the way we expect to be treated, and will turn to God for guidance and salvation. This prayer can become perverted and used as a way for people to try and absolve themselves of all responsibility, which I touch in my story. It's not so much about the specific sin, but the multitude of sins and secrets people commit in their daily lives - even the most upstanding members of society.

I chose to go this route, rather than writing about parents and children as a family unit, mostly because I couldn't stomach having to navigate the kind of abuse found in Jesusland without feeling like I was competing with, or borrowing too heavily from, Scheer's life story.

And yes, I do recommend reading any or all of these books.

What is your revision process like? Is "Pater Noster" in its final version, or will you continue to edit and tweak, even post-publication? Why or why not? Is this representative of your revision process as a whole, or specific to this text?

"Pater Noster" is a done deal. When I finish a story, that's it. I have to walk away from it, even if there are things I wish I could tweak. I know I'm done when I start thinking, "Okay, I know it's not perfect, but how much can I tinker with it before totally wrecking it?"

I would rather find a few small imperfections than find out a story is overwrought and beyond repair.

This is pretty much my process every time. I tend to edit as I go, being especially careful about details when I get to them, almost like recording a movie as it plays in my head. I can visualize a few major scenes clearly and then fill in the rest when the time comes.

To speak generally, you're a prose writer for the most part. Ever try your hand at verse? How long ago, and what were your thoughts? We hope you're feeling daring enough to share some!

I've only ever attempted poetry when it was required of me in survey-style creative writing courses. It's not something I would ever attempt on my own - it really is better left to the experts.

Do you ever feel like you have a fabulous idea for a short story, but it is stuck in your head for one reason or another? What is stuck in your head these days?

I've had ideas stuck in my head for weeks at a time, which is no fun. Sometimes I simply don't have the time to pursue that idea, and sometimes it's just a little kernel of an idea that I have no real intention of fleshing out. I do this a lot on the bus, especially if someone is on the phone and I can only follow half their conversation. I'll make up the other half as a way to amuse myself.

Lately, I've been thinking about doing something different. Still short fiction, but something not as dark as my usual fare. Maybe something more like a fairy tale?

Speaking of things rattling around up there, what have you been reading recently? Any particularly intriguing passages or texts you'd like to alert our readership to?
Right now, I'm reading Ian McEwan's Atonement. I saw the movie when it came out, and absolutely loved it. My plan for the summer is to devour all things British. When I finish this one, I've got Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited lined up, and then it's all Jane Austen all the time.

There's a passage in Atonement that I simply adore. To set the scene, McEwan is introducing his protagonist, Briony Tallis. Briony is a young writer who is positively detail-obsessed, never mind detail-oriented. Emphasis is mine.

"She was on course now, and had found satisfaction on other levels; writing stories not only involved secrecy, it also gave her all the pleasures of miniaturization. A world could be made in five pages, and one that was more pleasing than a model farm. The childhood of a spoiled prince could be framed within half a page, a moonlit dash through sleepy villages was one rhythmically emphatic sentence, falling in love could be achieved in a single word - a glance. The pages of a recently finished story seemed to vibrate in her hand with all the life they contained."

Isn't that just a delicious passage?

I also found an editorial in the April 15th New York Times that really touched on something I adore. Verlyn Klinkenborg is talking about the e-reader trend, and how these devices are great for certain purposes, but nothing will ever replace real books. This is my favorite line:

"A paper book aids my concentration by offering to do nothing else but lie open in front of me."

As I said in my interview last semester, I love books as objects - how they feel in my hands, how the paper smells - and reading a real book is a beautiful, incomparable experience.

I've been listening to Joanna Newsom almost exclusively for a couple of months now. I bought a book of essays and other writings about her music, and have begun to appreciate her brilliance on a completely different level. Once you get past the fact that her voice is, well, I'll call it unique, it turns out that the language she uses in her songs is pretty amazing. She resurrects words and sentence structures that fell out of fashion ages ago, and still manages to make it feel elegant and modern.

Right now, my favorite song is "Sadie," from 2004's Milk-Eyed Mender.

When do you do the bulk of your writing? Where do you usually settle down to write? (Which isn't to imply you may not pace around your backyard balancing your laptop on one hand, furiously typing with the other)

I do most of my writing in bed. I do have a desk, and my laptop usually lives on my desk, but I tend to get the most done sitting on my bed, propped up against some pillows. More often than not, I'll also have a cat stretched across my ankles, so I'm definitely committed to that position.

This is also how I prefer to do most of my reading, though I seem to get a lot of reading done on the bus.

I tend not to write longhand, mostly because it can be so hard to keep up with my thoughts. But this summer, I plan on keeping handwritten reading journals when I get to Jane Austen. I bought these neat little notebooks at Target with wild Liberty of London patterns on the cover. Austen predates the Liberty fabrics considerably, but the covers are just so fantastically cheery - I simply must use them!

iScribe Interview Series - Attempting the Improbable

2010-04-18T23:44:00.004-04:00

Name: Nick McKnight
Major: Fine Arts
Year of Graduation: 2011
Position: Featured writer (Fall 2009); cover artist (Fall 2009)

It been said (too many times) that "You can't judge a book by it's cover", but this might not be the case of the Fall 2009 edition of The Independent Scribe. Though I'm no art buff, I feel that your painting "Bridge (extended)" conveys the variety and vibrant nature of the writers and artists in the issue, yourself included. Do you have anything to say about this painting that you would like others to hear?

The painting hangs right next to my bed at home and I see it every day. I love it. I mean, I love all of my work, but I feel that its vibrant tone was intended, especially since I made it in the gloomy days of winter. Hopefully it will find a beautiful home someday.

You also contributed the poem "1 Day, 2 Gowns & 3 Reasons", a unique and poignant look at a marriage ceremony through the bride's perspective (please correct me if I'm wrong!). Was this piece inspired by a particular marriage you've attended, the general idea of it, or something else entirely?

It’s actually a funny story: I attended school in Baltimore and while I was there, I was in one of the buildings waiting for a friend and the architect who designed the building was getting married in the building. I just started writing and I thought of that marriage as well as other couples in Baltimore, many of whom are homosexual or transgendered. Although I’m not, I thought it’d be a nice exercise to write about the scrutiny and verbal abuse and all of the bullshit (can I say that?) they go through while just trying to be happy.

Looking through your blog, I've seen that you've been very active as an artist. Can you give an estimate of how many pieces you have created so far in your career?

Ooof. All together? Finished pieces? It’s difficult to tell. If I had to say, maybe a little less than 200.

Can you pick a favorite, or most important piece out of this catalog?

I’m not sure, I don’t have the book on hand.

From some periphery browsing, it is apparent that there is great variety in your work: your self-portrait as your icon, still-lifes, abstracts, collages - you even find time to write poetry! Is there any sort of art form that you feel you could not attempt, or that is the most difficult for you?

Now there’s a question! Bring it on! I try not to stay in a comfort zone while working. I even have a body of work that I’m making now with sculptures (wax, resin, molds and junk). I think attempting the impossible or “improbable” is what artists should strive for, poets and writers especially. There’s not much difference between poetry and visual art either. With both, I’ve submitted poetry and art to contests and failed or didn’t get accepted more than you’ve said the word “hello,” but I still do it again and again.

We at The Independent Scribe don't get to talk about visual art nearly as much as writing, so do you have any artists who influence your work?

We would truly be here for hours. But here’s a few artists and poets:

Artists:

Cy Twombly
Jenny Saville
Lisa Hamilton
Eric Fischl
Grace Hartigan

Writers/Performance Poets:

Kerouac
Buddy Wakefield
Anis Mojgani
Andrea Gibson\
Anne Sexton

Overall, how has your experience with The Independent Scribe been?

Well, I’ve only been at URI since the fall because I transferred from Baltimore back to RI, but The Scribe last semester was pretty great! It was well put together, the team did a fantastic job and there’s a great deal of talent and hard work in those books, writers and artists. I’m honored to be a part of The Independent Scribe and I respect the hard work and enthusiasm all of you have to do this every semester! See you in the fall!

iScribe Interview Series - Curiouser and Curiouser

2010-04-17T21:51:00.005-04:00

Name: Aran Valente
Major: Political Science
Year of Graduation: 2010
Position: Featured writer (Spring 2010)

Saguaro Blossoms" was probably one of the most challenging pieces we've ever read. It opened up a debate that really bordered on uncomfortable, but we all agreed that it was an important conversation to have. Was that kind of discussion your goal as a writer, or were you looking to tell a story and let the reader come away with whatever they were able to glean from the piece?

I meant the story to be challenging in that it presented an antithesis to a popularly unilateral argument about ethnic relations and emigration issues in the United States. In terms of debate, at the time I was writing it I didn't think a group of people would be reading it at once so I never considered a discussion at the end of the reading. That being said, I am glad that a debate occurred because I think that only by talking about controversial issues can people identify underlying problems and begin to move towards solutions that work to the benefit of everyone and not just whatever group has the power to write the laws of society at that time.

Are there elements to the story that had to be left out? Any background information on the characters or social climate, or even a resolution beyond your conclusion?

The story behind the story is still going on, though civil and human rights lawsuits have been filed against some construction contractors and some unions have been formed. At the time I came up with the story, I was working as a union organizer for the Arizona American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization (AFL-CIO) though my family and I currently affiliate with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). A lot of the dialogue and Roberto's thoughts were taken from comments strikers and construction workers made about civil and human rights' abuse on the job. I purposefully decided to leave out union organizers and put them in the background because I thought it would have been too much of a subjective stance on the issue. A lot of the story was designed around expressing the disappointment of people who painfully discovered the paradox first hand of having their basic rights as human beings ignored by a country founded on equality.

Is "Saguaro Blossoms" part of a larger work? How do you envision the entire piece unfolding - will it be a short story collection? A continuous novel with added characters and events? An expansion of this particular story to encompass more of these particular characters' experiences?

It could be part of a larger work but it’s difficult for me to say at this point. I don’t think I’ve had enough experience to write a novel yet but maybe a series of short stories. There is a longer version of the story but I think this vignette is the best so far.

Now, the big question - why? What made this story so compelling that you absolutely had to share it?

While union organizing, we were often given false locations for delegating by corporate contractors and would drive for sometimes up to six hours to a location that didn’t even exist yet (which wasn’t uncommon during the housing boom at that time). Everyone would groan collectively when they came to yet another highway barrier and saw only barren desert beyond. On the bright side, I got to have lots of conversations with the other organizers and strikers to pass the time.

On one of these long drives I was staring out the window at all the palm trees going by and thinking about how they were bought for the area and how people were trying to change an arid desert into a tropical metropolis. I thought about using a palm tree to symbolize a sense of alienation from the society people were working to improve a country that rejected them and decided to have symbols in the story be put in the context of common Arizona sights. I wanted to design a story that would expose the politics people faced who were overlooked by society and do it in a way that showed more accurate depictions of Latino/a American and in particular, Mexicans, and Mexican-American day-laborers than was normally seen in the media. I took a class on radical writers from the Black Arts Movement of the '60s and wanted to use universal social concepts expressed in the class’s texts to show how people from a different cultural community who face a similar adversity would express their discontent and fight for their peoples’ freedom. I also thought of structuring the story in a similar fashion to Jack London’s, To Build a Fire, in that external factors would be shown that inhibited peoples’ ability to function in a society. The main difference would be that in To Build a Fire all the factors were from nature and in "Saguaro Blossoms" they were made by people.

I’m not sure that I absolutely had to share that story or that it was especially different than other stories or articles on labor exploitation written in the South West or America. Members of the Latino/a and Latino/a American community and marginalized groups in general have been writing about exploitation such as this for generations. All I did was put it in a contemporary context from what I had heard, seen, and researched while organizing during the summer time. Without the testimonies of visionary strikers and Construction Workers who found their voices and shared their experiences no one would ever even know problems such as this were going on in America or at the most would have a very narrow minded view of them. In this way, I think there could some problematic aspects to the story because I have not had the experience first hand that I wrote about in the text. I don’t think that people should come away feeling that they’ve had “the undocumented experience” or “the Mexican experience” but that they’ve read a story to make them more aware of political issues surrounding racism, labor abuse, and documentation. My hope is that stories such as this will make people curious about the subjects presented and interested in educating themselves with a more holistic stance on emigration and labor policies. I also hope that readers will come away with an interest in stories by Mexican and Mexican American authors, journalists, etc. or people who are aware of adversities that members of Mexican and Mexican American communities face. I don’t want my story to be thought of as a permanent social signifier but rather an interface for political identity and cultural expression.

What other events and experiences do you hope to capture in the future?

Well, it’s hard to predict the future. I am curious to see how the recession has affected labor relations in Arizona currently and compare and contrast with my former experiences there.

What 5 writers or other works (entire books, stories, articles, movies, etc.) stand out as favorites, be it the most influential in your own work or simply for enjoyment?

Stories that influenced my writing in Saguaro Blossoms include:

Poems by Sonia Sanchez
Poems by Amiri Baraka during his transition period
Etheridge Knight’s poem: The Bones of My Father
Jack London’s To Build a Fire
Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man

Reading through past editions of the Scribe, what piece(s) made you think,"Wow, I would love to live in the world this writer has created!"

Well, I enjoyed reading "Glass" by Gillian Ramos and "To Train Up a Child" by Samuel Aboh. I wouldn’t want to live in the world Glass depicts though. It sounds pretty disturbing.

[ed. note - "Glass" appears in the Fall 2008 edition; "To Train Up a Child" appears in the Spring 2009 edition]

iScribe Interview Series - To the Ace

2010-04-05T08:22:00.003-04:00

Name: Rob LeBlanc
Major: English, Ph.D.
Year of Graduation: 2010
Position: Featured writer (Fall 2009)

If you were going to go to a diner that was based on the works of one author, which author would it be and why?

I guess it would probably be Breece D’J Pancake.

Do you prefer writing poetry? Do you prefer to read poetry or prose?

I prefer to write poetry, but I prefer to read prose, especially short stories. My favorite experience as a TA for the English Department was teaching ENG 243, The Short Story, in the spring of 2008.

What do you do for fun…besides writing?

Mostly reading and watching viral videos. I don’t have a lot of free time lately. My fiancée and I went to some sort of cheese shop in Tiverton recently; that was fun.

What is the most inspirational line of poetry you’ve ever read?

I would have to cite this lengthy line from Thomas Merton’s poem #9 in his 1968 collection Cables to the Ace :

“I am doubted, therefore I am. Does this mean that if I insist on making
everybody doubt me more, I will become more real? It is enough to doubt them
back. By this mutual service we make one another complete. A metaphysic of
universal suspicion!” (These words were once heard, uttered by a lonely,
disembodied voice, seemingly in a cloud. No one was impressed by them and they
were immediately forgotten.)

iScribe Interview Series - Paradoxically Elusive Nature

2010-04-02T15:45:00.004-04:00

Name: Max Orsini
Major: English
Year of Graduation: 2011, PhD
Position: Featured writer (Spring 2010)

Your featured piece in spring’s edition, “On a Painter and Her Art,” was quite the visual piece. Do you have any experiences in the artistic field? Do you feel that written words have the same sensory effect as visual art?

I, like most people I presume, sketched quiet a bit as a kid growning up in Brooklyn and Jersey. I have always, even as a child had an nterest in the way visual art challenges the boundaries of a frame, the way that certain artists, like Picasso most notably, toy with the idea of disfiguration. I've always felt drawn to distorted faces of a certain sort, diverted vanishing lines of a kind; yet, paradoxically, my whole artsistic sensibility from childhood to the present has been governed by an overriding "idea of order," by the idea of still life and what I recently hear someone call the simple but monumental significance of plain and ordinary objects. I'm not a visual artist by any stretch of the imagination, but I do have a kind of underlying devotion to the power of the crystal image in poetry. I like poems, paintings and even imagistic songs that possess and elicit a kind of dark transparency, a kind of night-blue clairvoyance, a sort of Atlantic-silver light.

Music, literature, and visual art all have the incredible ability to convey one’s thoughts and ideas, while also serving as effective methods of emotional ventilation. What is your most favored form of expression and why?

Actually, along with writing poetry, one of my passions in singing and song-writing. I've been writing music for more than twelve years and even more paramount than my belief in the visual landscape of a poem is my out and out faith that a poem is a "dream song" to play with a phrase from Berryman. I feel that poems "tap" into an inante music in the subconscious, a kind of clamorous whisper that goes on under the current of our lives that resembles an inate music. I really enjoy writing music, but my poems and songs are two very distinct entities. They rush forth from a similar source, but they form two very separate streams in my life.

Do you believe that an artist’s (covering the spectrum from writers to musicians) best work comes from periods of strong emotion? Why or why not?

It's funny that you ask this question about periods of turmoil producing exciting work. I've thought a great deal about this question and though I've always met it with a kind of resistence, I have to say that Blake was right when he said that "without contraries there is no progression." For about the last year or so I've written in response to certain circumstances in my own life and these circumstances have challenged my writing. They've challenged my notion of how to live, actually. I suppose the benefit of emotional trial is intense introspection, but there comes with this the fine line of excessive introspection and a kind of loss of the outside, which, can become a detriment to the connectivity between speaker and listener in a poem or series of poems. Professor Cappello has given me sound advice regarding this matter. She's implored me to try and have a conversation with other poets in my writing, maybe not directly, but to use the personal as a means of contributing to a dialogue that other poets are having on similar pesronal concerns that are always inherently political.

What is your source of inspiration? What brings your pen to paper?

My main source of inspiration is the paradoxically elusive nature of inspiration itself to be honest. It's always fleeting and changing. Usually, given a certain slant of light, or after I've read enough beautiful poems by Mary Oliver, or James Wright, or Anne Sexton, or Wallace Stevens or Sylvia Plath or Elizabeth Bishop, or Wordsworth or Shakespeare, something will form in my mind, like an ocean of waves with rippling meanings and then I will simply have to write because the beauty and the sorrow and the irony and the lucidity are overwhelming. I think this is probably the case for most people. I'm still pretty traditional in terms of my influences. There are many fine poets writing today, but I take much of my own music, my own metrical advice from older or deceased poets.

There was a crazy thunderstorm that freakishly switched people’s minds from their bodies. As a result, college students for one day now inhabit writers’ bodies. Whose body do you inhabit? Describe your day-in-a-life situation.

Right now, Mary Oliver. For beauty, for wisdom, for dark lucidity, for faith in the convictions of the natural world, for short, clipped, quick breathed phrases, for imagery, for love, Mary Oliver.

Tell us about your educational and career plans. Do you see yourself publishing to the national audience in the near future?

At this moment, I teach senior English and Creative Writing at a local private school and am working on my PhD in English. I plan to teach at a college that values writing and art one day.

Say that you built your house from the ground up using literary pieces—what works are lining your bedroom windows? How do these affect you view?

At the foundational level of my imagined literary home, I would line the walls with a fair blend of Romantic poems and Modernist poems to please both the eye and the ear of those inhabiting.

What inspired you to submit to the Scribe? Any intention of submitting again in the future?

I believe it was a fellow Grad Student who brought the Scribe to my attention. I've enjoyed submitting my work to the last two spring issues and I hope to contribute to this great journal again in the fall.

iScribe Interview Series - Redefining Universal Languages

2010-03-31T21:48:00.003-04:00

Name: Joe LiVolsi
Major(s): Mechanical engineering/German language & literature
Year of Graduation: 2010
Position: Featured writer (Fall 2009)

First of all, congratulations on getting published! Have you been published previous to “House of Hosts”?

Thanks! I was "published" once, but it turned out to be a scam...if you ever get an offer from Elder & Leemauer Publishers, or something, don't take it. Essentially, then, no: I haven't been published.

Talking about the actual piece, we were quite impressed with the consistency of the rhyme, meter, and overall entertainment of “House of Hosts.” You mentioned something about the inspiration for it at the Fall launch - can you share this origin of creativity once more?

Thanks for that, as well. I have to say, I was pretty pleased with the way it turned out, myself. The driving force behind writing a poem of that length and with that focus was John Mansfield's "The Hounds of Hell," which is a nineteen-page piece (at least, in the format I've seen). The rhyme and meter of that one is relatively simple, though; mine was a product more of happenstance: the rhyme needed to be like that for there to be a rhyme, and the meter fell together in a pattern that was made necessary by a mistake. Once it was set, though, it was reasonably easy to keep up (although material was sometimes troublesome).

How were your experiences with The Independent Scribe, both in submitting and reading at the Fall launch?

Oh, it was great fun; both reading, and submitting. I enjoyed working closely with the editorial board, and they were very enthusiastic and accommodating. Reading at the Fall Launch was very enjoyable. I've never showcased anything I've written before, and it was a great experience.

Aside from your inspiration for writing this piece, are there any other writers or genres that you feel are worth mentioning as influences on your writing?

James Russell Lowell, hands down. He didn't inspire anything about this poem in particular (I don't think), but he has inspired others, and a portion of his "The Present Crisis" was the first poem I memorized of my own free will. That piece in its entirety is an absolute monster, but the rhyme and meter are amazing. More than that, my only muses are jealousy of someone else's poem, my girlfriend, or maybe something in nature.

This piece was a part of very unique makeup of the Fall issue of The Independent Scribe. This variety was not only limited to the style pieces, but also to the writers and their backgrounds/majors. So I have to ask, what’s more fun, being a poet or an engineer?

At this point, being an engineer is anything but fun. I expect the payoff to make all the pain worth it, though. I enjoy building things--always have--and the engineering path is the one that's going to get me where I want to be. That, and it pays well.

As hard it is to look at a piece other than your own work in this publication, how do you feel The Independent Scribe as a whole turned out, and if you can, can you name some other pieces that you personally enjoyed?

To be perfectly honest, I haven't had much chance to look at the book since I got it, last semester: senior year's tough on an engineer. I really enjoyed the essay/short story by one contributor about her time in Spain: I spent six months in Germany, myself, and I was able to identify with a lot of what she said. There was also a piece about a robot, and I think it had something to do with a bluebird, but memory fails me...no offense is meant to the author, of course.

[ed. note - the essay and poem in question are Katherine McAllister's "Grenada" and Dylan Thompson's "Madrigal," respectively]

As it happens, this is your last semester as a senior. What are your plans after college, and how much of them are related to writing?

Writing has always been a hobby, nothing more, and I have a solid job lined up after I graduate that deals specifically with engineering. Although I feel compelled to say that writing is an integral part of any and every facet of real life, and nobody--in any major--should make the mistake of underestimating the expression of language--in any way--just because his scholarly focus is something more scientific. Math and music may be the universal languages, but if you can't read, write, or speak English properly, you won't go far.

iScribe Interview Series - Likes: Cyberpunk; Dislikes: Tootsie Rolls

2010-03-31T07:51:00.005-04:00

Name: Marc Curtin
Major(s): English
Year of Graduation: 2012
Position: Featured writer (Spring 2010); Scribe member

You're one of the few writers who has seen both sides of how the Scribe works. As both a featured writer and a participating member, what are your thoughts on how the Scribe operates?
When I first heard about the Scribe, I assumed it would be some sort of faceless corporation, a group of people meeting behind closed doors , mechanically separating pieces into “in” and “out” piles. After coming to my very first meeting, I realized that that image couldn’t be further from the truth. I feel like the Scribe is unique in that we really care about the people who submit to us. We talk at length about the majority of the submissions we receive, and even if we feel that a particular piece doesn’t work for us, we try to find good things to say about it, or parts that can be saved. If a work needs revision, we give the writer ideas about the direction in which we would like to see his or her work go in order to make it publishable. I’m not going to name names, but there were several pieces this semester that needed two or more revisions before we could definitely say “yes,” and I’m glad that we took the time to work with these writers. As for my own work, I am indebted to my fellow editors for their insightful criticism and attention to detail. To be in the same room while people discuss your work is pretty nerve-wracking, but I chose to do it anyway, and I feel like my work and my understanding was greatly enhanced as a result.

Have you done any submitting outside of the Scribe? Is it something you would consider for the future?

Nope, this spring’s edition of the Scribe will be my first appearance in print. I would definitely consider submitting to journals and magazines and whatnot in the future, though – maybe when I have a little less reading to do.

Now that you've been a member for a semester, what do you hope to see in the group's future, whether it's next semester or a couple of years down the road?

More submissions! And more exposure – lots more. Many URI students haven’t even heard of the Scribe, and that’s sad, because aside from English department contests there are very few outlets for URI writers to gain recognition and get their work out there. The more submissions we get, the bigger future editions of the Scribe will be, and the more seriously we will be taken as a literary publication.

How would you describe your writing process? Do you draw inspiration from specific things, or do ideas pop into your head at random - or is there some other secret method to your madness?

My writing process is, in a word, chaotic. I tend to write in short bursts, usually late at night – much to the dismay of my parents when I was still living at home (apparently not everyone enjoys the clack-clack-clack sound the keyboard makes when you’re typing. Weird, right?). As for inspiration, I keep a notebook of random things people say that I think are interesting, or particular lines or images that I think about when I’m daydreaming (which is often). Sometimes I’ll write a whole story just so I can use one particular line. I guess that means my stories tend to be more image- or dialogue-driven than plot-driven, but hey, I’m happy with that.

What is the most embarrassing/cheesiest thing on your bookshelf?

I guess that’d be the big pink polka-dotted piggybank thing full of tootsie rolls. I don’t even like tootsie rolls. I swear.

Is there one particular writer who you cannot get enough of? What makes this writer so meaningful to you?

I love, love, love William Gibson. The style of his novels is nothing short of poetic, from cover to cover, and his vision of the future is at times scarily prescient. Gibson literally coined the term “cyberspace,” and this metaphor for the flow of data along a global network serves as the basis for similar representations throughout literature and film. To me, to read Gibson is to be on the bleeding edge of where technology meets human life, an experience which is both exciting and scary at the same time.

A crazy super-villain has broken into your house and stolen all of your books! But he's feeling charitable, and will let you take back only three of them. Which three do you choose, and why?

First, I’d save Neuromancer, by my aforementioned buddy Gibson, because it was the book that got me into Gibson and cyberpunk literature in general (and also because reading it saved me from going crazy on an 18 hour flight). Enough about him though, I don’t want to bore you to death.

Next, I’d save The Snows of Kilimanjaro, which is a collection of short stories by Ernest Hemingway, another one of my favorite writers. I’ve always loved Hemingway’s style; he draws you in with a simple dialect, and then WHAM! – you realize the significance and meaning of the story. “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” found in the collection, is a perfect example of this, and is one of my favorite short stories. Not that the other ones are too shabby, though. What I love about short stories, and Hemingway’s in particular, is that each of them creates a world of their own, like a novel, but their form forces them to be more impactful. In a sense, you get more “story” per page, and having a collection of short stories is like having several different books.

Finally, I’d save How to Rule the World: A Handbook for the Aspiring Dictator, by Andre de Guillame, because leaving a book like that in the hands of a crazy super-villain is downright irresponsible. Besides, I might need it someday – for, um, research. Yeah, that’s it.

Part two - little does the crazy super-villain know, you've actually got your own super-powers. You lock him up and punish him to read three of your least favorite books for all eternity. Which three, and why?

Oh boy, there are so many books I absolutely hate that it’s hard to narrow down. I suppose first on the list would be Gilead, by Marilynn Robinson, which I was assigned to read over the summer before junior year of high school. I barely got through the first three chapters – it was that boring. And I’m the kind of person that likes boring. Heck, when I tell people that I love Hemingway, the most common response is “How could you? He’s so boring!” I even enjoyed seeing The Good Shepherd for christ’s sake. But yeah, it was that bad. And she won a Pulitzer Prize for it. Go figure.

Next on the list is Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe. I appreciate the effort, Mr. Achebe, but seriously, there is only so much talk about yams I can take before I have to abandon a book.

Last but certainly not least is William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. I may get a lot of flak for this, but really, I just don’t get it. I’ve read it twice, written a couple papers on it, and I like to think that I understand what Faulkner is doing in theory, but it really is not an enjoyable read. Maybe the whole stream-of-consciousness thing just isn’t for me, I don’t know.

iScribe Interview Series - Finding Himself a City

2010-03-30T18:09:00.002-04:00

Name: Eric Slade

Major: Studio art

Year of Graduation: 2009

Position: Featured artist (Fall 2009; Spring 2010, cover)

Have you always enjoyed creating art? What first piqued your interest in art?
I’ve enjoyed creating art for as long as I remember, but talent alone won’t get you anywhere if you’re not continually pushed to test its limits and see the possibilities that can open up. An enthusiastic, motivational art teacher early on in one’s education can make all the difference in the world, and I was fortunate enough to have a fantastic example of one of those in middle school. So I guess I have her to thank for the state of my bank account right now. I could have been an engineer…

What was your inspiration for your artwork that was published in the Fall 2009 issue?
I studied abroad in Florence during Fall of 2008, and during that time I took a break to spend a week traveling solo by train through France, Germany, and Switzerland. That image evoked all of the exhaustion and, at times, loneliness, that can be effects of such a long foreign journey. I then printed the same linocut image on multiple train tickets that I had saved.

You designed the newest logo for the Scribe — explain your design.
This logo was based on the classic image of the '50s “nuclear family” gathered together around the television. The Scribe seeks to promote writing and literacy, so I thought this slight alteration, with the same family gathered around a book, would be an amusing take on the idea. It’s a simple graphic that encapsulates the most important things we need to encourage literacy – replacing TV time with reading time, and, for kids, reading with the family. We need to get enthusiastic about books again, in the same way that people are for "Lost."

Are you currently working on any new artwork?
At last count I had 23 ideas for new art projects written up in my sketchbook. I’ll be happy if I get around to one or two of them. One thing I am excited about is that I just bought a 10-yard roll of drawing paper and covered a whole one of my bedroom walls with it. I’m not sure what I’ll use it for, whether to doodle ideas or to actually make one massive drawing, but the possibilities it opens up have my imagination swimming.

What is life post-URI graduation? What are your plans?
I don’t actually make any money from my art, so I’ve been teaching this past year in order to get by. Since my hopes to go to grad school this Fall fell through, the new plan is, to quote David Byrne, to “find a city, find myself a city to live in.” It would be nice to live in a place where people buy art, since they certainly aren’t doing it in New Hampshire. Not that anyone wants art anyway; they want decoration to hang on their bathroom walls. And that’s why we have Christmas Tree Shops and Thomas Kinkade.

Oh, and of course I hope to continue submitting to The Scribe as long as they care to keep taking my e-mails.

[ed. note - we're always happy to take your emails!]

Congratulations!

2010-03-20T15:39:00.008-04:00

The Independent Scribe is ecstatic to announce that the following writers have been accepted for the Spring 2010 edition:

Aran Valente
Britany Taylor
George C. Whaley, Jr.
Jordan Pailthorpe *
Kate Stone
Krista D'Amico
Lars Nelson
Laura Tetreault
Linda Langlois *
Marc Curtin *
Max Orsini
Morgan Turano *
Rachel Mossberg *
Shayne O'Sullivan

Congratulations to all of our writers, and to our cover artist, Eric Slade.

Many thanks to all of the writers and artists who sent us their work this semester. We are so proud of all of you for participating in our process. We look forward to hearing from all of you in the future!

Keep watching this blog in the coming weeks for more interviews with folks from the Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 editions, as well as information about the launch of the Spring 2010 edition.

* - Asterisks indicate the winners of our contest, The Secret Society of Demolition Scribers.

Updated Deadlines

2010-03-03T20:01:00.002-05:00

Well, Scribe-lings, it's March and you know what that means - our deadline is fast-approaching.

But don't panic, we've extended our non-contest deadline to Friday, March 19 by 4 PM!

Contest entries are still due by the 12th; we will choose 5 winners and award them with a fabulous prize. We're still accepting entries, so show us what you've got.

URI Helping Haiti

2010-02-12T00:07:00.009-05:00

The Independent Scribe is participating in the URI Helping Haiti campaign. We will be collecting donations at our booths every Friday in February - starting tomorrow!

Keep checking the school site for more information about other groups' fundraising events.

Thank you!

Held Over - The Secret Society of Demolition Scribers

2010-02-02T15:23:00.003-05:00

In the spirit of Marc Parent's short story collection, The Secret Society of Demolition Writers, the Independent Scribe is giving you, our beloved writers, a chance to explore the deepest corners of your imagination - and be featured in our upcoming Spring 2010 edition!

The Challenge "What would you write if no one knew who you were? In the spirit of the demolition derby, where drivers heedlessly take risks with reckless abandon, welcome to the first convocation of the Secret Society of Demolition Writers. Here is a one-of-a-kind collection of famous authors writing anonymously - and dangerously."

So says Marc Parent in the introduction to the book. He rounded up 12 famous contemporary authors and asked them to write something daring, something spectacular, something their editors and agents would never let see the light of day.

How it Works Write. Whatever you want it to be, no matter how dark or silly or sexy or painfully honest. Send it our way with "SPRING 2010 CONTEST" in the subject line (and as always, make sure your name does not appear in the body of the text).

We'll choose a small, select group of winners and feature them together. Your name will appear in the table of contents, but will not be associated with your piece. We want to publicly thank you for submitting and congratulate you for winning, and we will guarantee your anonymity by never sharing who wrote which piece.

Remember, all entries must be received by Friday, March 12 at 4 PM. Any contest entries received after this point will not be considered.

For more information on Marc Parent's book, visit your favorite online retailer.

Best of luck to you all, and happy writing!

Spring 2010 Meeting Schedule

2010-01-25T11:51:00.001-05:00

Welcome back, Scribe-fans!

Our new meeting schedule for the Spring 2010 semester is as follows:

Mondays & Wednesdays, 4-6 PM, MU308.

Our first meeting will be on Monday, February 1st - see you soon!

Fall 2009 Launch Event Photos

2009-11-23T16:01:00.003-05:00

We've got some event photos! Thanks again to everyone who came, we hope you had as much fun as we did.

Click here to see more.

(Thanks to Marisa for the photos we've got so far.)

Quick Hit - The Morning After

2009-11-20T10:50:00.003-05:00

Our Fall 2009 launch event was a smash!

Many thanks to all who attended, including our featured writers and artists as well as faculty members and supporters from other student groups.

Congratulations to those whose work is showcased in this edition. Your readings last night were wonderful.

Here's to many more semesters with even greater success.

It's Exactly What You Think It Is

2009-11-18T11:48:00.004-05:00

Hooray!

iScribe Interview Series - It'll Be Awesome. Trust Her.

2009-11-17T22:41:00.003-05:00

Name: Morgan (last name witheld by request)
Major(s): Chemistry (MS)
Year of Graduation: 2011
Position: Featured writer (Fall 2009, Spring 2010)

Tell us a bit about your education and work experiences. How do you see these experiences connect to writing as an art; how do they impact your writing, specifically?
I have a B.A. and M.A. in English & Creative Writing, a B.S. in Biochemistry & Forensics, and right now I’m working on an M.S. in Chemistry. As for work experiences, I’ve been a manager at a movie theatre, taught kindergarten,worked in a laboratory, and right now I’m an editorial intern at a local newspaper and I’m a Physical Chemistry T.A. Everything I do adds experiences I can draw from when I write. I meet new people, learn new things, go on wacky adventures, and it all rounds out my writing.

You have both a poem and a prose piece in the Fall 2009 edition of The Independent Scribe. Which genre do you prefer? What inspired you to write these two, different pieces? Do you see them having unique functions based solely on genre, or do they function uniquely for different reasons?
Prose, definitely. Specifically short fiction. Very short fiction. Microfiction. In fact, I prefer to think of both pieces as short fiction, even though the "Ode" is undeniably poetry. "7 O’clock News" was inspired by a radio newscast I heard while still half asleep, and the Ode was written when Iwas reading a collection of Neruda for the hundredth time for fun while reading a forensic text for work. I think the styles of the pieces are well suited to the subject matter, but I don’t think the styles alone define the pieces' functionality.

If you could wear any writer like a giant body suit from head to toe for a day, who would it be? Why? Would you act like them and trick everyone into thinking you're actually him/her, or act completely different? Why?
That’s kind of weird and creepy, so I’d have to go with Stephen King. I think he’d appreciate it the most. We could both probably write about it afterward, and his version would make me hide under my bed for a week I’m sure.

What do you like to do outside of writing and academics? Have any exciting hobbies?
Wait, there’s something outside of writing and academics? Are you sure?

If you were to design and build a home based on a literary work, what would your home be like? Look like, smell like, feel like? Why do you chose this text as your architectural inspiration?
My first instinct is a house based on The Old Man and the Sea; basically I just like the ocean. It’d be white and have huge windows and be on stilts on a cliff, and have cathedral ceilings. My second choice would be the house from the Haunting of Hill House, but I would not live in it. It’d be great for Halloween, though.

Is there any piece of fiction you just can't stand? Why?
I wish to God people would stop telling me how awesome The Lovely Bones is. Don’t get me wrong, maybe it’s great, but as long as everyone is telling me about it, I have no reason to read it.

If you were to teach a creative writing course at URI, what would the course be like?
It would be awesome. You’d wish you were in my class. Trust me.

What is your favorite part about being involved with The Independent Scribe?
Being a part of the writing culture. It is great to go into a room once a week and be able to talk with students who are interested in literature and writing. Working with the everyone on The Independent Scribe is a great experience, and I really do enjoy every minute of it.

iScribe Interview Series - Taking the Heat, Staying in the Kitchen, Tackling Topics Close to Home

2009-11-17T15:06:00.004-05:00

Name: Samuel D. Aboh, Jr.
Major(s): English
Year of Graduation: 2010
Position: Featured writer (Fall 2009)

Coming from so far away, how did you end up at URI?
Because Brown did not accept me and Bryant came to seem boring.

How much of your political past plays into your writing?
A lot! Coming from Africa I have seen a lot of corruption, a lot of which has to do with our own countries’ leaders but also from foreign influences as well. I never had a voice as a child but my conscience has become something of a nag as an adult and so a lot of what I have seen and endured politically - civil war, shabby and corrupt elections, etc plays into my writing. I write so that I can also nag and beat at someone else’s conscience.

Is there anything about "How to Make Palava" specifically that you'd like to share?
Indeed! Don’t get me wrong, I love my African people, but so much of what is going on in Africa today is the fault of the African himself (even though we would like to blame others, foreign corporation and powers and such )- we (I say “we” because I am African) are not each other’s keepers. We seldom stop to think about the welfare of each other, which blinds us to how much influence we can have if someday we can unite as one - if someday we can think about how to serve our fellow neighbors (we are neighbors for Christ’s sake - Africa is what, 53 countries strong?) instead of trying to fulfill our own personal agendas. It is the greed and vainglory our African leaders; the strife and conflict that surrounds every African, the indifference we harbor when we see things going wrong but don’t care to do anything (simply because it not affecting one country yet) about it even though we share he same continent, that drove me to write this poem.

The word "palava" has many different usages, as we see in your poem feature in this edition of The Independent Scribe. Are all of these definitions common, or is one more prevalent than the others?
Yes. To use palava to refer to trouble or some sort of problem or disruption is more prevalent where I come from. Palava could happen in the market place when women fight over space to sell their food stock, when people fight about the last drop of water in the well, the nosy neighbor refuses to mind his/her own business, etc.

Do you have any other creative outlets? Do you write prose as well, or solely poetry?
Indeed. I am currently working on a book, a memoir of some sort to chronicle my life from civil war - Liberia to Ghana, to America. I have tried writing songs, since I am a singer as well, but let’s just say that it needs more work.

After you graduate, do you plan on continuing to write?
Yes, I plan to continue to do just that.

What was your first introduction, formal or otherwise, to poetry?
My first introduction to poetry was when I took an ENG 205 course, about one year ago. I really loved the course. I always left the class with a smile on my face and hungry for more.

I'm sure you know by now that everyone who hears you speak is entranced by your accent. Given that, it has to be asked-- can we expect to hear you read at the November launch event?
Yes, I would Love to read. Will I be reading just one or can I bring other poems I have written?

Is there any methodology to your writing? Is there a particular place you need to be in, physical or otherwise?
I am very nocturnal. Ideas seem to rush to me at the early hours of the morning. I like to lie quietly in bed with my note pad on my computer desk and every now and then, when I receive a vision I will rush over to the desk and write it down. It is such a thrill.

If you had to pick just one literary figure to accompany you to a week-long retreat, who would it be? Why?
John Milton, were he alive. He is simply marvelous. I would also like Morgan Freeman to accompany me. Yes, I know he is not a literary figure, but I thought I’d add that in just in case you guys are in the business of making dreams come true, like Oprah.

iScribe Interview Series - You Want to Like How it Feels

2009-11-17T08:43:00.003-05:00

Name: Mollie Bergeron
Major(s): English
Year of Graduation: December 2009
Position: Layout Manager, Featured writer (Fall 2009)

If you could spend one afternoon getting to know 1 of the published writers featured in the upcoming edition of The Independent Scribe, who would it be? What would you do?
Lars Nelson and I would spend the afternoon together. We would make toast, for sure (stay tuned for the upcoming edition of the Scribe for that reference).

What program do you use to layout the publication? What are its vices? Virtues?
I use Adobe InDesign CS4. As for virtues, it allows a standard file format to send out for printing, which is great. It also offers a wide array of fonts, strokes—check out the Spring 2009 Table of Contents! - along with other nifty features.

Its biggest, most terrible vice is that it does not wrap text. So, when putting all of the text into the program, it’s a guessing game as to where the page will cut off… this often involves word-by-word insertion to make things “easier.” Also, after putting in page numbers manually so as to avoid numbers showing up unwanted, I become terrified of gridlines for weeks.

How long does it take to layout a 100-page publication? Where did you go through this process?
Surprisingly, this edition came together rather quickly—altogether getting everything into InDesign took about forty hours of squinting at a computer screen. After spending hours losing our minds in various rooms of the Memorial Union, we (our lovely Editor in Chief, Kate Stone, and fantastic President Gillian Ramos) finished the tedious process over bagels at Kate’s house… to the lovely soundtrack of Wanda Syke’s standup.

After that I put in about ten hours of reading, reading, and re-reading the “finished” manuscript, making edits and hoping to catch any and all typos/ misplaced text.

To anticipate the question, yes, I do wear glasses.

In addition to layout director, several of your poems, including "Violence & Nudity" are featured in the upcoming edition. How did you come to title this poem specifically?
After being unhappy with my previous title, it came down to Googlemachine. The first interesting, semi-inappropriate, and fitting collection of words included “violence” and “nudity.” The poem is about the violence of having someone torn out of your life, and how bare and alone that leaves you, so though seemingly irrational, there is a definite connection to the poem.

There is a rumor that the Scribe encourages people to "pet their paper." Why don't you tell us a bit about this.
Oh, absolutely. You have to pet your paper. If you’re reading this, I’m assuming there has to be paper somewhere around you. Go touch it. Now! This came about when we received copious cover stock options from our publishing contact, Bob Oscarson at Signature Printing. After narrowing down the hundreds of options, each Scribe member was instructed to pet the paper upon entering the room. When you hold a book, you want to like how it feels. Any good bibliophile knows what I’m talking about… it’s not only the words that matter; it’s the texture, the color, the weight. The entire object matters. Next time you pick up your favorite book, pet your paper. I bet you will find that it is a phenomenal sheet of paper.

Do you have a favorite text or visual piece in the Fall 2009 edition? If so, which and why?
My favorite visual piece is definitely our cover. We received a lot of great artwork, but I just can’t get over the way the publication looks! Last year’s edition was wonderful as well, and we have Eric Slade to thank for our black and white lithograph on the cover, but something about the vibrant color is just great. It stretches across the full cover, which is something we haven’t done before, and I think it really showcases what a big change we’ve gone through this semester in opening up to various departments around campus.

As for a favorite text piece… I think it would have to depend on genre. I mean, how do you choose between the linguistic analysis of Patricia Weisenseel’s critical essay and the haunting lines of Laura Tetreault’s poetry and the scandal of Dylan Thompson starting a piece with “anywhere but between the legs?” I just can’t do it! The entire edition is full of amazing writers.
What poets have you been reading recently, and in what ways have they influenced your process and/or poetry?

Lately, I have only had time to read what I’ve been assigned in class. Luckily, this means I’ve been reading a lot of avant garde poets with Professor extraordinaire Peter Covino. Specifically, in his class we just finished reading Donald Revell’s selected works Pennyweight Windows. Excitingly, Revell just came to URI recently to give a poetry reading. It was dazzling and hysterical and sad and fantastic all over.

Avant garde has given me a new perspective on poetry. I’ve never been one to stick to a form, but I tend to cut myself off and write short pieces, or constrained lines. I’m learning to lose the prose aspect of my poetry. In terms of process, every day is process. I think it’s about expressing what you really mean rather than what someone expects you to mean.

You know many of the writers in the URI community. Who are your favorites to talk to? Drink with? Vent to? Etc. Feel free to list in fun categories.
Oh god, all of them. I love that the writing community is small enough that it is actually a community. Even those writers who I don’t know all too well I have had a class or two with. I enjoy talking to nearly anyone, so long as they are not hostile, but I guess to narrow it down a bit I’ll say (in alphabetical order by first name) Bryan Smith, Dylan Thompson, Gillian Ramos, Kate Stone, Laura Tetreault, Marisa O’Gara, etc. etc. …Several of those names also fall into the “favorites to drink with” category.

The Independent Scribe is moving in a new direction with regard to what texts it considers, calls for and publishes. How do you feel about this progression?
I love it! I’m so glad to see all sorts of writing in this edition of the Scribe. We have poets, critical essayists, art, travel writing, we have it all. We have also grown departmentally—apart from the traditional English majors and Writing & Rhetoric majors (they’re still here, don’t worry!), the Scribe has been lucky enough to include several Visual Arts majors, Biology majors, an Engineering poet; the variety is astonishing. Hopefully more and more students will become interested in the Scribe and either submit or get involved… hint hint!

Who are you most looking forward to seeing at the Scribe event? What are these events like? What was it in the past? How will this year’s be different and/or the same?
I think that all of us are hoping that Samuel Aboh will be able to come and read! Keeping my fingers crossed that Joe LiVolsi will be able to make it as well—his poem “House of Hosts” is set up wonderfully with a nearly consistent meter, which should make for a good read. I’m also looking forward to hear Dylan Thompson read an exerpt from the aforementioned “Thérapie” aloud.

If you were to create a cocktail inspired by one of the pieces published in the Fall 2009 Scribe, which text would inspire you and why? What ingredients would be in the beverage? What would you call it?
Seeing as "House of Hosts" has a creepy-crawly-Halloween-y feel to it, I am going to go in that direction. It would consist of Vampire (brand) Blood Vodka (type), blood orange slices for both flavor and brilliant attractiveness, and a bit of seltzer water for bubbles… cauldron-esque, no?

iScribe Interview Series - Loudly, Slowly, With Feeling

2009-11-16T20:03:00.006-05:00

Name: Linda Langlois
Major(s): English (MA)
Year of Graduation: TBA
Position: Featured Writer (Fall 2009, Spring 2010)

Tell us a bit about yourself: Your life, your experiences, and all that has contributed to your development as a person and fabulous writer.
I started first grade at 5 years old and that was the last time I was ever younger than my peers. I’m a late-bloomer, in graduate school when I should be in a retirement home. I have nieces and nephews who have babies older than my child. I had my only child at 40 and she and I are in separate (graduate) schools together.

My first honeymoon was spent on the back of a motorcycle touring England, Scotland and Wales for 6 weeks. The marriage didn’t last but the wanderlust did. And always, I wrote.

We've had the pleasure of reading much of your poetry, and particularly love a particular poem written about your husband and your car breaking down in the rain. What does your family think about your writing? How participatory are they in your process or overall content?
My husband and daughter are very encouraging and supportive though in different ways. My daughter is more of a reader than my husband and tends to be more critical of my approach to topics.

Who have you been reading recently? Tell us about your thoughts on the reading and the writer.
I am reading The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards, first as an audio book till it had too many blank spaces. I was intrigued by the title and I love it. I read several books at once, depending on my mood and how long I can stay awake but do not always finish them. I am still trying to get through Night by Elie Wiesel but need a special mood for that. I gave up on Eat, Pray, Love.

I love people stories about the war (WWII) and, no, I was not alive then. I am excited abut the Reading Across Rhode Island selection coming up, about the German occupation of the Channel Islands and a book club the local women created as an excuse to the Germans to get-tog.

A little birdie told us you plant to read at the Launch Event. How do you feel about reading your poetry? What advice do you have for other writers with regard to putting a voice to their work?
I am scared to death to read aloud but think to myself, if not now, when? The advice I have for others and am trying to learn myself is how much I enjoy hearing a person read their work Loudly, Slowly and with Feeling. These three things make “Readings” so enjoyable.

If you could spend one evening with any writer, alive or dead, who would it be and why? What would you do together? Where would you go? Would wine, arrests or headlining new stories be involved?
Oh definitely wine…so I think, F .Scott Fitzgerald. Or maybe Kate Stone. And we’d definitely travel to new places if only in our minds and we’d laugh and laugh and laugh.

At what time of day do you write most? Why do you think this is so?
I do most of my writing while I’m walking (usually the beach) or driving, especially when I’m “stuck.” I have words, phrases, thoughts written everywhere, mostly the backs of envelopes. I have notes from years and years ago that I come across at odd moments and think, Oh yeah, I never did finish that thought. I daydream all the time and this produces my best writing. I’m constantly running scenarios through my head and writing them down. I never sit down at the computer to “write.”

Tell us a bit about any recent projects you're currently working on. We love knowing you're producing more wonderful writings!
Well, I spent my summer with DH Lawrence in Taormina which was certainly more enjoyable than the rainy summer we had here in South County. Of course his wife was there but we ignored her. I had two lovely rejection letters, one from a British professor who said he was “intrigued with my idea.” I’ve been working on some memoir pieces but my main goal is to find a home for DH.

iScribe Interview Series - A-Poet at 3 AM

2009-11-16T11:13:00.004-05:00

Name: Mercer Smith
Major(s): English
Year of Graduation: 2010
Position: Featured writer (Fall 2009)

When did you first start writing? Which creative genre held you interest first? Which do you find most compelling today and why?
I first started writing, really writing, when I was in the 8th grade. It was first based upon a prompt that my 8th grade professor had given me to write about "What I was made of." Most people in the class took the essayistic approach to attempt to write exactly, and literally what they were made of. I, on the other hand, decided to write a poem. From that day on the poetic genre has held my interest most strongly. Recently, however, I have begun to branch out into Creative Essayistic Non-Fiction, and I have been finding that amusing, and fascinating to write. I do believe that both poetry and essays have aspects that are intermingling which is what made my progress from one to the other (and vice versa) so easy.

How did you decide to become involved with The Independent Scribe?
I decided to become involved in The Independent Scribe because most of the students in my majors whose opinions I valued most were involved. I was interested in furthering my own experience as a writer as well as being able to see what kind of writing the students of URI were capable of.

Tell us a bit about your invention and revision processes. What details are you willing to share about the process of writing?
I am definitely more of a "swooper" when it comes to writing. I have to wait until an idea is right upon me. For example, my iPhone is filled with notes about poems or stories, or even great lines that I came up with. Most of the margins of my journals have small scribbles of words or lines that I find inspiring. Poetry and writing to me are not something that I can sit down and intentionally write, because when I try to do that the lines come out overwrought and exhausted. As for revision, that is something that I usually wait a few days and then go back to, or shoot the piece of writing over to someone who hasn't read it before. I find the best way to revise something is to look at it with completely clear eyes. There is no way that I will be able to fix something if first I haven't cleared my head of what I was writing about to start with.

What is your favorite aspect of publication, whether that be being published or working on a journal?
I enjoy both aspects honestly. I love the pride that comes with being published, but I also enjoy the pride that we see in other people that we are publishing as well as our own pride at putting out a great publication.

iScribe Interview Series - Holly of Arts and Sciences

2009-11-10T20:56:00.004-05:00

Name: Holly Tran
Major(s): Biology
Year of Graduation: 2013
Position: Featured artist (Fall 2009), Scribe member

Rumor has it you're a poet and a photographer. How did you get involved in these mediums? Do you see a connection between photography and poetry?
I was always an avid reader. As a child, you would frequently find me under the covers with my face in a book. For those nights when my mom declared it bedtime, I would stuff the unfinished adventure under my pillow, where it laid as my companion to accompany me into dreamland. I started writing short stories early in middle school—most of which remain unfinished. From my recollection, my first surge into the poetry medium occurred in the sixth grade when my teacher introduced the unit. For some reason, I already had background knowledge on his lecture of the week—rhyme scheme. That feeling of comprehension served as motivation, encouraging me to explore the ability to express in the form of poetry. My acquaintance with poetry grew into a solid relationship. I found gratification in being able to expose my thoughts in ambiguous metaphors. I found immediate relief in being able to subdue my internal torment by the mere act of assembling succinct lines. To me, these words that came together were more than letters—they were powerful emotions materialized upon paper.

My first notable involvement with photography occurred in high school. Being denied of the drawing course to fulfill my fine arts requirement, I chose to go with my alternate choice of photography. This semester course introduced me to the SLR camera—a simple device that had the capability to produce the most striking black and white images. I started to see everyday surroundings in a new light. Art was everywhere. I had found a medium that could visually evoke emotions. I had found a way to make the world stop in time. I had found a way to give voices to objects that could not speak.

Both of these mediums have the ability to tell a story, evoke an emotion, or relay an underlying message. The beauty of these mediums—and any kind of art—is that the underlying message is open to individual interpretation.

Which of your photographs are you most excited to see printed in the Fall 2009 edition of The Independent Scribe? Why?
Honestly, I have no clue which of my photographs will appear in The Independent Scribe. I think not knowing builds up the excitement. It’s like waking up Christmas morning to open presents that you were unable to find the night before because your parents wised up to your yearly sleuthing.

You're a biology major. Tell us a bit about that! How do you balance science and creative writing - is it a struggle, or does it come naturally to you?
Science keeps me grounded. Creative writing sets me free. They both keep me sane and alive. There is never a struggle to balance science with the arts/creative writing because they coexist. They always have.

What is your favorite part about being involved with The Independent Scribe?
The people, the ideas, the process—everything. The members here are incredibly accepting. Their open minds are not limited to the myriad of genre that flood their inbox each semester, and unlike Ebenezer Scrooge, these fine folks jump at the opportunity to share their wealth—of knowledge, that is. In my time with the Scribe thus far, I have realized that this is a gathering of thinkers, writers, artists—all of whom seek to push your limits and ideas. You can’t join The Independent Scribe and expect to leave as the same person. Be prepared to learn and grow.

If you could throw a huge party with any writer, who would it be and what would the soiree be like? Details, please!
Kate Chopin. Since I tend to be a reserved person, I would probably scale the ‘huge party’ down to a day out in town. Perhaps a conversation about her feminist views over tea and then the rest of the day dedicated to enjoying nature. Emerson and Frost could even join us. Besides, throwing a huge party with an acquaintance seems a tad bit strange…

How do you feel about rhymed v. free verse poetry? Do you have a favorite poem in rhyme? A favorite free verse poem?
I enjoy either, as long as the author keeps the format uniform throughout the entire piece. It’s irksome to hear an arbitrary rhyme right in the middle of an engaging free verse. That being said, I am very fond of Emily Dickenson’s “Because I could not stop for Death” and T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”. The poems that stick with me are the ones I can see come to life. Those images never leave.

If you could travel anywhere in the world to take photographs and write poetry, where would you go and why? What, specifically would you love to see and write about?
I would preferably like to visit a place where the majority of the architecture held historical roots. Somewhere not too popular and somewhat quiet. Somewhere I can feel the wind and see the coast. Somewhere over the rainbow… I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but add that last bit.

Back to the question: It wouldn’t matter where I went, as long as it was outdoors and some place I had never seen before. As for the poetic theme—that would have to be a surprise. Why? Why not?

iScribe Interview Series - The Working Time Machine

2009-11-09T10:48:00.003-05:00

Name: Marie Ventura
Major(s): History
Year of Graduation: 2004
Position: Featured writer (Fall 2009)

You graduated from URI before most members of the Scribe even finished high school; how was your undergraduate experience? Was there a creative outlet like The Independent Scribe in place at that time?
This will probably sound corny but, to tell the truth, my undergraduate experience was pretty fantastic. While I was at URI, I was lucky enough to get an amazing on-campus job that let me combine my passion for history and my fascination with video production. I worked as an undergraduate assistant with ITMS, where I learned non-linear editing and computer animation. I helped professors with their video projects and even had the opportunity to work on my own – in particular a short project on the women who fought in Vietnam and a half-hour documentary on Hadrian’s Wall.

Perhaps the brightest highlight of my undergraduate experience was when I studied abroad in England for a semester. I gained a whole new perspective on history and historiography and, in addition to my class work, I had the chance to travel all over England and Scotland, riding the trains and walking around historic cities and sites I’d only ever read about before, like the tunnels cut into the chalk cliffs under Dover Castle, the spot where Thomas Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral, the exhibits at the British Museum in London, and the Roman forts and leather and wooden artifacts at Hadrian’s Wall in Northern England. I even took the London Beatles tour and walked across the crosswalk at Abbey Road. I was so inspired by my experience abroad that as soon as I got back to URI, I started the process of applying for URI and RI Foundation grants that would allow me to go back to Hadrian’s Wall and create a documentary. I wanted to investigate how the presence of that ancient Roman wall affected the local people of the area, from the time it was built all the way to the present day. Being awarded those grants gave me the opportunity to meet and interview archaeologists, museum curators, tour guides, re-enactors, and other Hadrian’s Wall experts, then share what I’d learned from them with others in a direct, colorful, and interactive way thanks to the URI Film Festival. So, I really did have a fantastic experience while I was a URI student.

As for whether there was a creative outlet like The Independent Scribe in place at that time…overall, no, there wasn’t. There was a literary magazine and I did send a few submissions to it, but it was on its way out by then and my submissions never saw the light of day. Instead, I directed my writing energies toward my documentaries and other independent projects.

After graduation, what did you do, either for work or in terms of furthering your education? How have those experiences informed or otherwise impacted your writing?
After URI, I was offered a free ride to PC and a graduate assistantship at the PC Publications Office. I earned a double master’s degree in European and American History from Providence College and, while I was there, I began work on another documentary project, this one on Quonset Point Naval Air Station in North Kingstown. I have a 20 minute version completed, but I’m still searching for the funds and resources to expand that “rough draft” project into a full hour documentary film. My goal is to one day enter the completed work into the RI International Film Festival.

My experiences in the Publications Office taught me a lot about organization, deadlines, and keeping to the relevant facts. Seeing my work in print in PC’s faculty and alumni publications helped give me enough confidence in my writing to begin sending a few of my original stories out to contests. Eventually I began a correspondence course with the Institute of Children’s Literature, which encouraged me to send my stories out to magazines. Most were rejected, which is normal, but I was able to sell one little mystery story to Ranger Rick magazine, which led to several other writing assignments. I saved up the money I earned as a graduate editorial assistant and, later, from selling my stories, so I could attend writing conferences in New York and Los Angeles. These experiences have given me a lot of insight into how to improve my writing – both academic and fictional – and how the publishing world works.

After graduating from PC, I got a position as an adjunct history instructor at CCRI, where I currently teach Western Civ. (very much a learning experience, as well as writing intensive since I have to do a lot of research to prepare for classes and keep my information up to date). As for furthering my education, I’ve recently begun the process of researching and applying to British universities with the aim of earning my PhD in British history. My career goal is to be a university professor and a prolific author, kind of like Isaac Asimov, and eventually to create a series of historical documentaries aimed at middle school/high school age kids.

In your introductory e-mail to the Scribe, you mentioned your participation with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI); what is the mission of the organization, and how do you feel that you fit into that mission?
According to the SCBWI website: “Founded in 1971 by a group of Los Angeles-based children’s writers, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators is one of the largest existing organizations for writers and illustrators. It is the only professional organization specifically for those individuals working in the fields of children’s literature, magazines, film, television, and multimedia.” SCBWI supports children’s authors and illustrators and hosts national and regional conferences where authors and aspiring authors can meet each other, editors, and publishers and attend informative lectures given by experts and celebrities in the field of children’s literature. As for me, I like children’s literature. Its simplicity is deceptive, which makes it incredibly difficult to pull off well. Most of my favorite books – The Little Prince, The Phantom Tollbooth, The Neverending Story, The Lorax, Flatterland, Watership Down, To Kill a Mockingbird, to name a very few – usually show up in the children’s section, even though they tend to deal with very complicated matters. The challenge of children’s literature is that it must tackle those difficult matters from unique and quirky angles, presenting engaging, truthful characters and themes in creative, energetic, and thought provoking ways. I’m drawn to children’s literature because of the challenge and because of the freedom, and I think the responsibility inherent in being a children’s author compliments my career goals as an educator.

To refer back to your e-mail, you also mentioned your current role as an adjunct history instructor; how would you describe the relationship between history and writing?
Well, since history has been defined as the written record of past events, history and writing are inseparable. In a sense, they sort of created each other. The human drive to keep records, organize thoughts, and share stories led to the development of writing systems, and the records and stories that were written down have been preserved as history. Writing is the breakthrough innovation that separates the historic from the prehistoric.

I happen to think that written sources are the closest things we have to a working time machine. Whether they’re personal diaries or financial records, works of fiction or historical narratives, written works have the unique ability to put us in almost direct contact with individuals from the past. These sources let their readers climb into their author’s mind and view the world through his or her culture, values, and experiences. The historian’s job is to read these sources and draw conclusions, to reconstruct past events like a detective investigating a crime. The historian’s goal is to write down and publish those conclusions, furthering and enhancing the historical record. Therefore, to love history is to love writing as well as reading the writings of others. You can’t have one without the other.

Your piece in this edition of The Independent Scribe is historical fiction, but are there other genres or styles you experiment with?
My studies encourage me to write historical non-fiction while inspiring me to write historical fiction. But, I’m pretty obsessed with science fiction, and that’s mostly what I write when I’m not writing history stuff. I also play with nonsense poetry and surrealist fiction, and I enjoy mysteries and fantasy/adventure as well. Aside from academic stuff, most of my writing would probably be considered middle-grade and young adult fiction.

When you’re writing historical fiction, do you begin a project with a specific time period in mind, or do you devise a basic plot and try to fit it into an historical period?
Well, I think the theme comes first, or even the characters. That determines the time period, and then the time period informs the plot. I don’t really think a plot can be squeezed into just any historical period. It has to belong there first, or it’ll sound anachronistic.

Theme definitely came first in the case of “Dandelions and Doodlebugs.” That story first started simmering in my head while I was reading a book on genocide for a class on the politics of mass murder. The book was called The Key to My Neighbor’s House, and it focused on Bosnia and Rwanda. I think “Doodlebugs” ultimately became my way of dealing with the raw, appalling reality exposed in that book and discussed in that class, kind of like an emotional outlet or a mental-health exercise or something. After that class, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the kids involved – not just the victims who died but the witnesses, the survivors who had to go on living with those horrific events as they grew up. I began thinking about Western European history and re-reading stories about children who were growing up during the World Wars – books like The Diary of Anne Frank, Number the Stars, All Quiet on the Western Front (although it’s about soldiers, the main character is essentially a kid when he starts out) and even the Narnia series where the main characters are children who are sent away from London to avoid the bombs. I re-read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes and Farewell to Manzanar, books that had deeply affected me when I was little. I read Flight by Sherman Alexie about a kid who becomes detached in time and experiences first hand the violence between Native Americans and American soldiers as they expanded West. I read about kids during the American Civil War, and then I started reading about the experiences of kids in the Middle East, fiction and non-fiction books about Israel and Palestine, then about Pakistan and India and Afghanistan. As I read, all these thoughts and emotions kept swirling around in my head until one evening I heard an old British song about the London Blitz and everything just fell together. I knew my characters, I knew their story, and I knew what I wanted that story to say. I went to my computer and I don’t think it took me more than two hours to write the story, but I knew it was the result of several months of thinking and research – not specifically research for that particular story’s plot, but done in the spirit of its theme.

”Dandelions and Doodlebugs” is about the illusion of safety parents carefully craft for their children or, rather, the moment that illusion is cracked. The primary setting is WWII London because I figured the experiences of two British, Western European kids would kind of help to highlight the parallel experiences of kids around the world who have similarly lost their childhoods to war and adult violence. It would make the experience seem closer, less foreign, in culture at least if not in time. The secondary setting, a more nebulous present somewhere in suburban America, brings home the fact that a kid doesn’t need to have direct exposure to war and violence to experience that same loss of innocence and security. It’s an epiphany all children experience: the chilling understanding that their parents aren’t immortal, and neither are they. Death is real, and we’re all vulnerable.

To extend a metaphor, and without going into all the political philosophy of the thing, in wartime, the state can sort of be seen like the parent and the citizens sort of like the kids it shelters. When the state breaks down and the protection of rational civilization is lost, the emotional effects on its citizens are shattering. I mean, look at The Tin Drum—the main character there is so disillusioned with the adult world of Nazi Germany that he wills himself to maintain a child’s stature. That emotional effect, that fear and disillusionment and pessimism that accompanies the loss of childhood safety, is the same whether the bombs were dropped on London or Germany or Japan during the World Wars, or exploded in Kabul or Baghdad or in Gaza yesterday afternoon. How can a little kid deal with that kind of loss? If we’re very lucky, it’ll be with dandelion wishes and stories and hope that, one day, the words of peace and security will be more than a sweet-sounding lie. The alternative is…well, we don’t really have to look much farther than the nightly world news report to see the alternative played out. So, yeah, for me I guess I generally start with a certain theme which helps me get to know the characters, then the theme and characters lead me to the correct time period which then informs the story’s plot.

What’s next for your writing? Any new projects in the works?
Yes. The truth is, I have more ideas and projects than I have time. Lately, my life’s been filled to the brim with school stuff, writing conferences, and researching PhD programs, but whenever I get a moment I do have a special project in the works. It’s a YA sci-fi novel I’ve been seriously working on for the past two years. It started out as a short story, and I’ve been gradually expanding it and expanding it. I’ve nearly finished the rough draft, but it needs a lot of work before it’s ready to be sent out to editors. I really, truly, deeply hope to see it published, though. Then there’s my Quonset Point documentary – I’ve been turned down for a few grants, but I plan to keep trying. Then there’s all the short stories that need my attention. I keep sending them out to magazines in the hope of a bite, even though most of them get tossed back to me. Most magazines have a very specific sort of story criteria and unless I start out by tailoring a story specifically for that publication, my stuff doesn’t always quite fit. That’s why I started an actual novel. Even though all this is a lot of effort with little to no guarantee of success, I keep working on all this stuff and attending writing conferences and asking questions of universities in the hopes that this time next year, if someone asks if I have any new projects in the works, I’ll be able to say I’m getting my first novel published and I’ve started work on my PhD thesis. It’s still something of a distant goal, but I’ve got my fingers on the keyboard and my eyes on the prize, and with any luck I’ll be able to pull it off.

iScribe Interview Series - Bubble Pop Shot

2009-11-08T20:20:00.004-05:00

Name: Britany Taylor
Major(s): English/Secondary Education
Year of Graduation: 2010
Position: Featured writer (Fall 2009, Spring 2010)

What about poetry draws you to the craft over prose or another artistic form?
Poetry is a way to express meaning through short and sometimes simple phrases. I find poetry to incorporate more freedom than any other kind of writing. Nothing is limited, prescribed, or desired. Everyone has a different reaction, as well as interpretation. Poetry is diverse, and you’ll never read a poem the same way twice.

When did you get that creative spark that said to you "I need to write poetry?"
I’ve always written, but mostly in a journal where I wrote every night before I went to bed. I had written poems in high school, but they were more rigid in there construction and general meaning. I suppose my creative spark came when I entered college. My first time being away from home and “outside of the bubble” allowed me to experience more, both negative and positive. Thus inspiring me to write poetry more; it just felt natural.

Do you have a specific method to writing your poems?
No real method, other than I carry a small notebook with me through my classes and I jot down random thoughts that sometimes eventually morph into a poem. I usually just write what I feel, and then if I feel confident enough I’ll have someone read them and then give me their opinion. Usually, people just say “it sounds good but I don’t know what it means!” But that is significant in the fact that they receive some type of pleasure through my writing, just through a different sense.

Is there anything specific you'd like to say about your many published pieces?
I have just enjoyed writing and I was initially uncomfortable with submitting some recent pieces because I was unsure of the quality as some of the messages conveyed were intimate and personal. Now I am confident in my words and know that someone will relate to them, and if not, I hope they sound good!

What is your favorite word?
Right now, caballero.

Your particular style tends toward shorter poems with precise, often pointed, language. How much of this comes naturally vs. takes time through editing?
I would have to say that I don’t do much editing on my poems. I like the spontaneity of writing poetry, and everything that you write has meaning. So other than grammatical errors I generally keep the poem the same as it was when I first wrote it.

If you could pick one poet to sit down to cocktails with, who would it be? What effect has this person had on you?
Peter Covino, He is one of the reasons why I write the way I do. Until his writing class, I never thought of writing a poem that was loose, for instance “Citrus” that was published in last semester’s Independent Scribe.

As a graduating senior, how do you plan on keeping writing alive in your life after college?
I hope to keep writing in my journal and to always carry a small notebook around with me, even if I am not inspired because the simple though of knowing that you have a space to write your ideas in alone makes you want to contribute more. It is nice to know that I have the support from my boyfriend as well, who also loves to write. We sometimes have writing dates where we just sit around and invent poems. If I end up teaching right after college, I will teach my students everything they want to know about poetry, and encourage them to write, and write freely.

iScribe Interview Series - Alas, a Laura!

2009-11-05T20:28:00.005-05:00

Name: Laura Tetreault
Major(s): English
Year of Graduation: 2010
Position: Featured Writer (Fall 2009, Spring 2010)

Word on the Creative Writing Street is you're applying to graduate school MFA programs. How is that going? What does your application and portfolio process entail? How is your process unique from other writers'?
Yes, word on the street is correct! It is a long and complicated process because I am applying to twelve schools. It is also terrifying because MFA programs are so competitive (depending on the school, usually anywhere from 0.5% to 5% of applicants are admitted). I routinely have panic attacks about my applications. That said, however, I really want to be accepted into an MFA program. I love poetry, I love other poets, and I love school, so it seems like the perfect thing to do.

I've become obsessed with revising my portfolio almost daily. Eleven out of the twelve schools want around ten pages of poetry, and one of them wants twenty. I don't even want to know how many times I have read those ten to twenty poems...

But I am trying to make them as good as they can possibly be before submitting them. Other than that, the main source of stress is the personal statement and all of the different programs' requirements for it. All I want to say is that I want to write, and I want to be surrounded by writers, so please accept me into your program so that I can do so (a generous funding offer would also be nice). The problem is turning that into 500-1500 words...

I'm not sure that my process is unique from other writers' - we allhave the same requirements. My process probably involves quite a bit more episodes of panic than other writers because I'm a very anxious person - but aren't many writers supposedly neurotic? In writing thestatement of purpose, I wished that I had some super-exciting nontraditional background to draw from, but I really don't, so I'm just writing it honestly and hoping my enthusiasm carries it.

When did you start writing poetry? How has your verse evolved overtime? Did you ever, say, rhyme in your work, or have a momentary obsession with concrete poems?
I started writing poetry when I was sixteen. I had written creatively before that, but my junior year in high school I took a creative writing class with a wonderful teacher who rebelled against the strict by-the-book teaching methods of our Catholic school and encouraged us to think in ways we hadn't been encouraged to think before. This class was my first creative writing workshop, where I really started exploring poetry. I loved the class so much that I took it over again my senior year.

I have always been fond of experimentation, even then, so my earliest poems (while certainly not very good) have a lot of playfulness in them and a sense of trying a lot of things - every time I learned about a new poetic concept I would try to create something out of it. I was actually really interested in form when I first started writing poetry. I would write a lot of pantoums and sestinas, play around with different rhyme schemes, and for a while I was quite attached totrochaic quadrameter... But I always felt a need to experiment beyond what traditional forms could do, especially since my favorite poets were ones who broke traditional forms (I fell in love with Whitman's work in high school, for example). I am still interested in form - I think that meter is important to my poetry, just not strict meter.

My poetry has evolved an enormous amount since I started writing it;it's been helped enormously by taking lots of creative writing workshops (thank you, English department, for letting me take ENG305 five times and keep getting credit). It is also constantly evolving -I have this huge desire to just try things, as I discover poets whose work I didn't formerly know, new ideas.

You're trapped on a desert island with one poet. Who is it? What do you talk about for eternity?
I have a lot of favorite poets so I considered a lot of options for answering this question, but eventually I decided to pick a poet notonly because I admire his work, but also because I think we would have a lot in common. So I chose e. e. cummings. Along with Whitman, he was one of my first poetic influences. His poetry is magical to me; it causes that particular ache that I feel when I read something that really captivates me. I mean, look at this: "until out of merely not nothing comes / only one snowflake (and we speak our names." What can you say to that, other than that it is enchanting? I think that he is one of the best love poets around (I'm frightfully romantic). I also love how most of his poetry can't be read aloud - how things appear on the page is very important to me, more than how poetry sounds when read aloud. I love his use of parentheses so that each poem is ever-unfolding, thoughts and images happening simultaneously and within each other.

While on the desert island, we would probably talk about how "this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart / i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)" and how "the coolness of your smile is stirring of birds between my arms." And about poetry, and our shared transcendentalist leanings, and punctuation. Yeah, we'd have a pretty good time.

You were the 2nd place winner of the Academy of American Poets contest last Spring. What was that like? Your winning poem appearsin this upcoming edition of The Independent Scribe. Tell us a little bit about this poem and what it means to you.
It was very exciting! I was grateful to get the recognition and to be in the company of the awesome writers who also won awards. It was also pretty neat that the Academy gave me a year-long free membership; they sent me a copy of the latest American Poet Magazine the other day,which I've been enjoying very much. The poem that won, "The Noise Behind Locked Doors," is very important to me. It's about a friend who was very dear to me as a teenager - she also wrote poetry, and my first experiments and investigations into poetry were shared with her. "The Noise" is quite a sad poem because it's about how this friend has had many struggles with mental illness and substance abuse, and it broke my heart - since she was always such a beautiful person, creatively. She moved across the country and I don't even know where she is or what she is doing anymore. But the poem is about this magical unique connection that we had as awkward sixteen-year-olds madly scribbling poetry in our notebooks in the backs of classrooms, and how this connection was unfortunately destroyed.

What is your writing process like for poetry? For other genres? Do you situate yourself in any strange places, need to be sipping any particular beverages... what really gets your writing juices flowing?
I always have ideas for poems floating around in my head - an image, a word or phrase, a rhythm, anything really. Usually the ideas are kind of in the background, but then invariably one of them starts jumping about and yelling at me and that's when I have to sit down and write apoem. I usually write at home at my computer desk. One thing I'm particular about is that I hate writing by hand - I have to type. This is because I think must more quickly than my hand moves, so the only way I can keep up is by typing. When I have an idea that I don't want to forget (and I will forget, being very absent minded), and I don't have access to a computer immediately, I scribble it down - usually on whatever's handy, like an old receipt. Then I get myself to a computer and try to discern the scribbles. I'm so annoyingly particular about needing to type rather than write by hand that I bought a mini laptoptop take around with me... Oh and also, I'm very fond of drinking hot wintery beverages while writing - hot chocolate, chai. Even in summer (but I like to pretend it is always fall or winter).

A crazy poetess has offered you a million dollars to stand on a soapbox in Times Square and read extremely loudly, over and over, one poem for one whole day. Do you take the money? If so, what poem would you read over and over?
I would do it! The crazy poetess sounds like my kind of person. And Iwould be getting rich while exposing the world to poetry (something that poets sadly do not usually get to do...). I would read "What the Living Do" by Marie Howe. In addition to being one of my favorite poems, I think it's a poem that many people walking through Times Square would connect to and benefit from. I would love to have someone read this poem loudly to me while I'm walking around, because what it's about is just what the title says - what people do daily, the small routines, the mundane, the ordinary - but it's really all a celebration of being alive. Go read it, it's beautiful.

If you could rewrite any famous poem and make it your own, which poem would it be and why? Would you alter a title, change one word, or hack apart the whole thing?
Yeats' "The Circus Animals' Desertion." After all, doesn't every poet wish they had written this: "Old kettles, old bottles, and a brokencan, / Old iron, old bones, that raving slut / who keeps the till. Nowthat my ladder's gone, / I must lie down where all the ladders start /In the foul rag and bone shop of the heart." I know I wish I had written that. I am tempted to say that I would redo it in free verse, but that feels kind of sacrilegious - Yeats is sacred and part of that sanctity is in the meter. I don't know if I could rewrite any famous poem - I admire them too much.

While we know you submit to contests and publications on campus, what other activities do you participate in that keep you involved in the URI writing community?
I try to go to the Read/Write events as often as I can - I really love getting the chance to attend readings given by visiting writers, andthey also bring the writers at URI together. Also, I have very recently started to get involved in the Pier Poetry Project, which was started by some URI alumni and other local residents who want to bring together a community of poets in Rhode Island. I went to a reading given by them last week in Westerly. Other than that, I am a writing tutor in the URI Writing Center. I wish I could be even more involved in starting a strong creative writing community at URI. I'm not really a leader type and I lack initiative, though (aka I'm lazy). But I really love the activities that I do participate in, and I love the community that is growing at URI.

iScribe Interview Series - Notes From the Laundry Room

2009-11-04T21:07:00.003-05:00

Name: Katie Walsh
Major(s): English/Secondary Education
Year of Graduation: 2012
Position: Featured Writer (Fall 2009)

Your nonfiction piece "To Be Catholic" is featured in the Fall 2009 edition of The Independent Scribe. Is this your first time being published? It seems extremely personal and is therefore an intense pleasure to read. Are you willing to share a bit about the situation that inspired this text?
Thank you and yes, of course I am willing to share the inspiration. It came from my Uncle who died of alcoholism. However, it is more than that. The quote I weaved into the text is something that is said at the start of all AA meetings; my uncle religiously attended AA meetings. I tried to convey many feelings in this short piece. I wanted the reader to get an idea of my uncle’s death and its impact on my family. Also, the religious way people attend AA meetings in order to beat the disease because I truly believe that alcoholism is a disease, and my uncle tried very hard to fight it. This piece was written for him, my family and all people that battle alcoholism.

If you were to throw a party inspired by your favorite piece of writing from any genre, what would the party be like and why? What would it look like, sound like, what would we eat or drink, or be required to wear?
If I threw a party it would be inspired by The Great Gatsby. The entire party would reek of the 1920s. All the girls would wear hats and flapper dresses. All the men would wear fashionable, gray and black suits. We would listen to jazz music such as Duke Ellington and Bessie Smith. I don’t actually know what foods were popular in the 1920s. However, I assume that champagne and cheese and crackers would be fitting.

Tell us a bit about your writing process. Any unique places or spaces you need to be in? Any particular time of day cater to your creativity?
My writing process varies depending on the assignment. However, I do have a unique space where I go to write. Many will find this repulsive but I love to write in a notepad on the floor of my bathroom. My roommates are insane and always distracting me. I get away from them by going into the bathroom (we have a washer and a dryer in there) and doing laundry, sitting on the floor scribbling into my notebook. My best writing always comes to me on cold bathroom floors, usually around 12 at night. How many people can honestly say that?

iScribe Interview Series - A Writer So SUBLIME, Her Words Will WRECK You

2009-11-04T20:22:00.005-05:00

Sarah in Ireland, Summer 2009

Name: Sarah Payne
Major(s): English/Writing & Rhetoric
Year of Graduation: 2010
Position: Featured writer (Fall 2009)

You're one of the few critical essay writers featured in the 2009 The Independent Scribe. Do you write any other genres?
I haven't really had the chance to write in other genres. I've somehow managed to avoid taking any sort of creative writing or poetry class at URI. I think part of me is afraid to try something new. I've got the critical analysis thing pretty covered at this point. I'm taking a Travel Writing class next semester, so hopefully that will help me to extend my writing into other genres.

What kind of 'work' do you like to do in your critical texts? We loved the work you did with language-level analysis in your published piece. Is this a common thread in your works? If so, why do you make this choice?
My interest in language-level analysis definitely started in my English classes in high school. AP English stressed the use of literary terms in theses. When I got to college, I had a few really great English professors that pushed my analysis. Professor Marty Rojas is one of those. She gives OED assignments--where you trace a word in a text and research the etymology of the word in the Oxford English Dictionary. That sort of assignment forces you to think about how themes are crafted down to words and punctuation.

Tell us a bit about your writing process. Is it long and planned, or short and spontaneous? Do you work at regular hours, or love the 4AM scribble race to the finish? We love details regarding how writers compose!
Especially with critical analysis, I usually start a little less than a week before the paper is due. If I'm not sure which book to work with, I go through everything I've underlined or starred and write down patterns or themes that interest me in each book. I have to start early because this takes a while. Once I pick the book, my process is pretty spaced out. I come up with a thesis a few days before the paper is due and work on it a little bit every day--which gives me time to flesh out new ideas as they come along. I can't work late at night. I've never pulled an all-nighter for school nor plan to--gotta have the beauty sleep!

Were you to rewrite Thoreau's Cape Cod, what changes or alterations would you make in your rewrite? Why?
Hmmm... I'm not sure if I would even attempt to change Thoreau's words! My favorite parts of the book were where he discusses the physical and emotional damage the shipwrecks caused. I also enjoyed when he is obviously making fun of the townspeople. Thoreau can be pretty funny with his perceptions of people.

As an English/Writing double-major and work in the Writing Center, we can presume you're pretty involved in the URI writing community. What is you favorite part about this community? What makes URI writers unique to you?
Being a "writer" (not sure I can call myself that yet) at URI is really cool. I feel pretty good about being a part of a community of writers. A writing community is a lot different than communities of other majors. We get to create and reflect together; other majors just study together. There's a lot more interaction and exchanging of ideas and motivating in the writing community. I love being surrounded by writers because it always pushes me to challenge myself.

Speaking of community, do you plan on attending the November Launch Event? If so, how do you feel about reading an excerpt from your essay? How do you feel about readings in general (attending, performing, etc.)?
I do plan on attending the November Launch Event! I've never read any of my work, so maybe this will be a first for me. I love going to readings and listening. I usually attend most of the readings sponsored by the English Department.

We understand you've read tons upon tons of novels in your English major. If you could be any character from any of the texts you read in your major, who would it be and why? What would you do for this day?
Well, I've got Thoreau on the brain; maybe I would be Thoreau. I would just travel all over New England and write my thoughts in my journal. I would stop by my cabin on Walden Pond. I'd have my weekly dinner at Emerson's house. We'd talk Transcendentalism. As Thoreau, I'd like to hear Emerson talk about his essay "Self Reliance." I guess I would surround myself with all those Transcendentalist thinkers for the day.

Are you currently working on any new writing projects? Rumor has it your considering a pretty neat Honors project!
Why yes, I am! I am currently writing a proposal to complete my honors project next semester. My idea is to write and illustrate a children's book--one for the 4 - 7 (ish) year-old audience. I love children (at least the ones I know). It will be my first time illustrating and writing creatively, so I am very excited. If I finish the project early enough, I'd also like to host readings at local libraries.

iScribe Interview Series - Romance and Pornography

2009-11-03T10:14:00.004-05:00

Name: Dylan M. Thompson
Major(s): English
Year of Graduation: 2009
Position: Featured writer (Fall 2009)

So Dylan, as an English major you presumably had many outlets for your writing. Now that you've graduated, what are you doing to keep up the creative process?
I'm sleeping a lot. I am currently unemployed, surviving on Diet Coke and cigarettes. I don't like to physically exert myself, so I try to keep my mind going -- listening to music, watching a good movie, reading, trying to remember the villain for each season of "Buffy."

Speaking of the process, do you have a particular ritual for your writing? As in, a specific place you like to write or a mood that strikes you?
It doesn't matter what time of the year it is, but I need to have the closest window open. Something about being cold, I think. Also, I feel that I am more productive at night, after ten p.m.

One author, one poet. Greatest influences?
J.D. Salinger -- the subjects of his stories aren't amazing or inventive but the characters are. Salinger's characters drive the story -- he could write them eating ice cream or trying to save a sinking ocean liner, it doesn't matter. The characters are so well written that they can drive any story idea.

And poet...oh, I don't know. Wayne Miller. His poems put you in a very specific place and mood.

Even though it's somewhat taboo to ask about inspiration... we can't help ourselves in your case. If you don't mind sharing, please tell us more about the stripper in "Thérapie!"
Last spring I went to Canada and experienced my very first strip club. I met a woman named Angela and she started dancing and stripping and the whole situation was very odd. And yes...she did say "anywhere but between the legs."

We'll let you in on a secret-- within this edition of the Scribe, "Thérapie" starts a page with "g-string." Do you have any reactions to this? How does it make you feel?
Whenever I am trying to write a romantic scene or a sex scene in a story, I feel like I can never deliver -- either it's too boring or too pornographic. I think "Thérapie" is a good mix of romance and pornography. So to answer your question, who doesn't like a page to start with "g-string"?

In your poem published in this semester's Scribe, "Madrigal," you juxtapose the art and work of writing poetry with the making of a madrigal, and similarly robots and birds. Can you explain the trajectory of your thinking, and how the path went from robots to birds or vice versa?
The whole poem is about trying to fit yourself into different roles that don't belong to you. A robot will never be able to write poetry -- I took that to an extreme in this poem. And a bird will never be able to sing you a Zevon song -- birds don't work that way. They make up their own songs. The idea of "madrigal" came from Donne's "Passionate Shepherd" poem. The shepherd in the poem promised his love that he'd have the birds sing her madrigals. But that's impossible.

Along these lines: You are one of the only people published under multiple genres in this Scribe. You are the sole writer published under two genres. How did you become interested in both prose and poetry as forms of creativity? Do you have any other specialities we should know about?
I've always been more interested in prose than poetry. There's more room with prose. But when I got to URI, I took a few poetry classes and was hooked. Poetry is trickier than prose -- you can't bullshit anything. Prose always has its dips and low points. A poem has to perform throughout.

Can you tell us about any other projects you are currently working on?
I'm working on a story with one of my friends about a town plagued by forces supernatural and not, and how the townspeople respond to said forces. It should be interesting if we ever get through it. One of my main characters is a two hundred year old entity in the body of a four year old girl named Betty. So...I've got that going for me. I'm also working on a nonfiction piece about my summer working with a teen who was developmentally disabled...that's going to be called "God's Work." Catchy title, no?

Do you have a favorite phrase, writing-related or otherwise?
"I will use this earth to scratch your back." It came to me in a dream.

Scribe-tober!

2009-11-02T16:41:00.002-05:00

Well, it's early November, so you know what this means - October in review! And what a busy month we had - our deadline was the 16th, and we had an astonishing amount of material to review.

After countless hours of reading and discussing, we compiled a list of writers and artists we felt represented the best of our entire submissions pool. I'm excited to share with the University community everything these fine writers and artists have created; as a group, the Scribe is privileged to see so much student-produced work, and every semester, it becomes clearer that URI is home to a tremendously talented student body!

Enthusiastic congratulations to the writers and artists who were accepted into the Fall 2009 edition. To everyone who submitted but was not selected - keep working! There is still the Spring 2010 edition to look forward to, and we're always happy to see what you've been working on during winter break. You're a talented bunch, and we'd love to work with you.

Right now, we're in the planning stages of our launch event. Invitations will go out in the near future with more information. We're looking forward to being able to introduce all of our featured creative folks to each other and to the faculty and administration that have been so supportive of our efforts.

We're in the midst of the printing process, after...wow, easily over 20 hours of proofreading, layout, and ordering. Special thanks to Kate and Mollie for their keen eyes for detail - it's their relentless pursuit of perfection that helps the process go so smoothly. And thanks to Marisa, our treasurer, for keeping the paperwork flowing.

Props to our entire board for their dedication. It's been a long, tiring month, but our hard work has paid off. You've got so much to be proud of - let's have an awesome event and get ready to do this again next semester!

iScribe Interview Series - Badass in Chief

2009-11-01T23:30:00.004-05:00

Name: Kate Stone
Major(s): English/Writing & Rhetoric
Year of Graduation: December 2009
Position: Editor in Chief

If you could spend one uninterrupted hour chatting with any writer, living or dead, who would it be and why?
I'd adore the opportunity to chat with Sandra Cisernos -- perhaps over sangria, or over the whiskey and cigars that so often appear in her fiercely wonderful poetry. Cisneros' Loose Woman changed not only the trajectory of my writing, but also a number of immeasurable facets of my everyday life -- from the strut I stomp out in too-high heels to the secret pride I savor in staying up too late and writing too much poetry, as detailed in Loose Woman's insomniac "Night Madness." I'd inquire for all the details of San Antonio, Mexico and her many pets. Perhaps during our chat, I'd uncomfortably sit on a personal secret: That my "Vitruvian Women," a poem featured in the Fall 2008 edition of The Independent Scribe, doubles as both an homage to my best friends and to her stunning, thoroughly feminine "Las Girlfriends." Would I tell her about it? Read it to her? I suppose I'll have to decide over sangria.

Same question, but out of The Independent Scribe's Fall 2009 lineup?
Dylan Thompson. Dylan is a lovely friend and peer I haven't had the opportunity to see in ages. I was floored -- no, scandalized (in the best way, of course) -- by his prose printed in the forthcoming edition of The Independent Scribe. I blushed numerous times while reading the piece aloud during a meeting, and I am by no means "a blusher." Rock on, Dylan Thompson. Make us all pink in the cheeks.

What excites you the most about good writing? What irks you the most about bad writing?
I don't believe in bad writing, I believe in writing that simply hasn't evolved or matured to its full potential yet. I once had a teacher that frequently quoted a mentor he deeply respected; upon reading a piece of writing that wasn't "good," this mentor energetically exclaimed "It is not lovely yet, but it soon will be!" I have faith in this ideology. I don't believe in bad writing, only writing that soon will be lovely -- with a bit of time, and a reasonable dose of dedication and energy.

What excites me about good writing? Risks. I love witnessing the courage of others, whether that courage be embodied in one's risque imagery, effective vulgarity, heart wrenching subject matter, unconventional structure or one's choice to "go public" by, say, submitting to a publication. Risks are exciting. Risks are good writing. Risks propel writing forward.

Political humorist Christopher Buckley often claims credit for great pieces of literature in his book jacket blurbs (he's being facetious...we hope). What piece of literature do you wish you had written?
Lolita. Who doesn't wish they'd written Lolita? Or Closely Watched Trains.

If you could spend one day in the life of a fictional character, who would it be? Why?
I would spend one day as Billy Prior, from Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy. Specifically, I'd live one of his days from The Eye in the Door. Prior's history, illness and sexuality are so fascinating; his attitude is nothing short of irresistible. He is an embodiment of my curiosity and I'd love to live his life, momentarily... not to mention how awesome it would be to strut about WWI England in a uniform! I think I'd look cute in one of those hats, no?

Scenario: You lost a bet and the person who won gets to take away all your books. But this person is feeling generous, and is letting you keep 5 of them. Which 5 are you keeping, and why?

D.H. Lawrence's Birds, Beasts and Flowers. I open this book of poetry at least once a day.
William Shakespeare's Complete Works. No life is complete without the jealousy of Othello, the quick tongue of Beatrice and the absolute absurdity that is Titus Andronicus.
Peanuts. I've adored these comics since I was a kid.
Dante's Vita Nuova. The first poem in this book is so gorgeously, frighteningly strange. I read it over and over, wishing someone would want to eat my heart!
Stephen King's Salem's Lot. I just can't go on without vampires!

What pearl of wisdom do you wish you could impart on all young writers?
Read. Write and read, everything. Literature, newspapers, nutritional facts, sidewalk chalk. Keep reading. Keep writing.

In addition to The Independent Scribe, how do you stay involved with writing and the appreciation thereof?
I'm blessed to be in two majors that keep me 'in the loop:' Writing & Rhetoric and English Lit. I'm also blessed with two lovely roommates and a fabulous boyfriend who don't mind listening to the thoughts of my crazy poet mind nonstop. As much as I am a writer, I'm definitely a talker; I talk writing even more than I write writing!

iScribe Interview Series - Travels, Cows, and a Whole Bunch of Georges

2009-11-01T22:22:00.005-05:00

Artist's rendition.

Name: George C. Whaley, Jr.
Major(s): Writing & Rhetoric
Year of Graduation: December 2009
Position: Featured writer (Fall 2009, Spring 2010)

So George C. Whaley, Jr, what does the "C" stand for?
The "C" stands for Carder. I was named after the old man, of course, who was in turn named after his great-uncle, George Carder.

Aside from your awesome name, we heard you live on a farm. Is it the same farm featured in "A Vicious, Pretty Cycle?" What is farm life like in southern Rhode Island?
Yes, the farm featured in "A Vicious, Pretty Cycle" is in fact my family's farm in South Kingstown. Farm life is, in a word, busy. There is always something to do, no matter the time of year. Though there is down time of course, particularly in the winter months, the cattle and other animals need to be tended to every day. It can be monotonous, though excitement is often added to the daily grind in the form of minor disasters: racing out into the field to cover a hay stack at two in the morning as a surprise thundershower rolls in, being woken up by a neighbor's call that a cow is running down the road again, putting a tractor through a wall and then trying to put it back together before anyone notices, etc.

We're so happy to feature your travel writing in our Fall 2009 edition. When and under what circumstances did you write these texts? Would you be willing to tell us a bit about your writing process, for these pieces specifically or with regard to your writing collectively?
I wrote both of these pieces earlier this summer as assignments for an online travel writing class, WRT 305 to be exact. One such assignment required me to attend a cultural event, with the text "Clam Bake" being the result. My other piece, "A Vicious, Pretty Cycle" came out of an interesting prompt which required me to follow a specific set of directions and observe my surroundings at every stop. Since this was all originally for a writing class, I completed several drafts of each piece, and received quite a bit of valuable feedback from my fellow students. I also did a lot of my writing in the wee hours of the morning right before due dates; I find that the pressure of a deadline looming over my head improves my productivity. I really don't recommend it, but it works for me.

How do you milk a cow?
Well that depends whether you are milking by hand or with a machine. To milk manually, you make a loose fist around the teat. Then starting at the base of the udder, squeeze slightly with your index finger and thumb, and pull your hand down the length of the teat, keeping the pressure on the whole way. Essentially, you have to pull down the milk. With a milking machine, regardless of the model being used, you just attach the cups to the teats, and wait until the cow's dry. In either case, you may also need to keep an eye on the hind legs, depending on the irritability of the individual animal.

Is this your first time being published?
Yes, this is the first time I'm being published, and I am honored that my work will be featured in the pages of this fine publication, The Independent Scribe.

So what have you been reading lately? Any fabulous poetry or travel writing you'd suggest for our readers? Any specific writers you'd recommend?
Unfortunately I've been reading little outside the assigned texts for my classes this semester. However, a friend and associate of mine has recently introduced me to the poetic works of D. H. Lawrence. I'll admit I don't have much experience in the field of poetry, but so far I'd say this is definitely an author that's worth looking into.

Are you working on any new projects? Care to share?
I'm in the middle of my final semester at URI, and am currently working on creating an electronic portfolio, the capstone of the Writing & Rhetoric major. I've been sorting through everything I've written throughout my studies here at URI, looking for the very best of my work to revise and include in my final e-portfolio. Writing aside, I still have to figure out how to put everything online in an effective, aesthetically pleasing manner, so it's definitely a long ways from being done. It doesn't look like I'll be able to knock it out on the night before it's due, no matter how much I want to.

Tell us one thing about yourself we'd never guess from reading your published pieces in The Independent Scribe.
When I was in the seventh grade, I consistently flunked each and every assignment in my Language Arts class. Back then, I sure as hell didn't see myself majoring in writing!

iScribe Interview Series - Party Boy Meets Poetry Boy in One Formulaic, Fearless Guy

2009-10-28T22:52:00.005-04:00

Name: Ray Mathieu
Major(s): Writing & Rhetoric
Year of Graduation: 2010
Position: Featured writer (Fall 2009)

This is your second time being published in The Independent Scribe. Which of your poems are you most excited to see in print? Why?
So They Say" would have to be the poem I am most proud of seeing in print. The restricted form in which it is written creates a unique visual design that adds an extra level of intrigue to the piece. Of the many attempts I have made at creating such a piece, this one was by far my most successful.

Your poem "The Steps to Stumblin'" reads like a personal account. Is this the case? What's the story there?
"The Steps to Stumblin'" is in fact a personal account, though some holes are punched out of the story as to allow me to blur sequences together a bit for rhythm's sake. What really happened was I drank White Russians all afternoon with my roommate, a Russian, one day. Later that evening, a bunch of us decided to go bowling, so we had a few beers and headed to the bowling alley. After a few games we grew bored of bowling so we walked across the street to the bar where we ordered up several Tidal Waves, a guaranteed ticket to Blackoutville, U.S.A. After a couple of drinks I decided to hit the bathroom, but through a misunderstanding of the bartender's directions, I ended up in the kitchen, where I eventually stumbled into the walk-in refrigerator stocked with beer. I was only in there a couple of minutes before they found me, surprisingly NOT drinking any of the beer. Needless to say, I was thrown out of the bar, and I woke up half naked on a couch the next morning. Blackouts happen, I guess. Like poetry.

Its is rumored you and The Independent Scribe's editor in chief Kate Stone are dating. Any truth to that rumor?
Absolutely no truth to the rumors. Kate and I are simply Non-Sexual Lifemates.

We know you write poetry, but what other genres do you dabble in? Are you working on any other projects currently?
If it's in the creative genre, I'm all over it. Currently I've been working on putting together some song lyrics which really puts a whole new set of tests of my poetic ability. I am also currently assembling my Electronic Portfolio as a graduating senior. So far, making my non-creative works appear as appealing as my creative has been the biggest struggle in that process.

Your poems published in the upcoming edition are very different from the other texts featured, both aesthetically and structurally. What poets sparked your interest in form? Why do you prefer to write in form rather than free verse? With the popularity of free verse embodied by our Fall 2009 edition, what defense would you like to make in favor of more formulaic verse?
"So They Say" is written in a form that I first discovered used by Edwin Morgan in his poem "Message Clear." Morgan achieve an extremely level of success in not only writing a poem start to finish within the restrictive guidelines of the form, but also by keeping the content closely relevant to the subject of the founding line of the poem. I have always been a fan of formulaic verse because of the challenge presented in the actual composing process. Finishing a formulaic verse such as a pontoum or paradelle feels like you have completed a puzzle of sorts and it's in that personal success that I get the most joy out of poetry.

Everyone has their own unique writing process. For poetry, what is your like?
When I'm writing poetry I'm usually also doing one of 2 things: either I'm sitting somewhere where I have to wait for something i.e. the doctor's office, or I'm reading poetry and I see a form that I feel the need to tackle. One of my favorite things to do is ride the bus from U.R.I. to Providence (about a 50 minute ride) and try to write a paradelle before reaching my destination.

While we know you're writing poetry here at URI, what do you plan to do after graduation? Do you believe your poetic skills will come in handy?
My plan after U.R.I. is to go to law school. If life has taught me one thing, it's to never rely on plans. I don't "plan" on having to rely on my poetic skills after college, but we won't know what the future holds until we get there.

Some writers feel a good deal of anxiety when it comes to submitting to publication. Is this the case for you now or was it ever? What advice would you give anxious submitters?
Submitting for publication has never made me nervous because, well, I always keep my expectations low; makes those moments of success that much more exciting. My advice to those of you who are reluctant to submit is: Expect the worst and hope for the best. That way you'll never be disappointed.

Yay, Kate!

2009-10-28T22:18:00.003-04:00

Big congrats to our Editor in Chief, Kate, whose poem "The Vulgar Way" was recently accepted to Chronogram.

We're all so proud of Kate, and look forward to seeing her published poem in the upcoming November edition!

iScribe Interview Series - A President More Fabulous Than Catwoman...Minus the Fierce Mask

2009-10-28T22:17:00.012-04:00

L-R: Orange cat with obscene tongue; your fearless leader.

The orange cat could not be reached for comment.

Name: Gillian Ramos

Major(s): English/Political Science

Year of Graduation: 2010

Position: President

For those of us unfamiliar, what does your job description entail? Which part of it is most fun? Least fun?
The role of President goes so far beyond administration and leadership. I'm still not sure I have the firmest grasp on everything, because I always believed that I would just be approving paperwork and going to Senate meetings. Turns out, I also get to singlehandedly destroy the rain forest with the amount of paperwork we generate during submissions review! I don't know if that's good or bad...

The hands-down least enjoyable part is finding out that everyone suddenly knows who I am. Networking is so important, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to make connections with so many other students I wouldn't ordinarily meet, but it always surprises me (a major introvert) when people recognize my face and name.

How long have you been a part of The Independent Scribe?

This is my third semester with The Independent Scribe. I joined in the fall of 2008, after returning to URI from a year at CCRI, where I returned my academic focus to English, which I had abandoned shortly after entering URI in 2004. After spending so much time away from the university, I was worried about finding a social outlet more than a creative one. I feel so privileged to have found both in this organization.

Are there any interesting/fun/surprising subtle details of your job description that one wouldn't hone an understanding of from simply your title?
Being the President basically makes me all things to all people. I approached the job with the belief that I would be playing a largely administrative role, overseeing activities rather than being up to my elbows in them. The one role I've found most surprising and rewarding is that of ambassador; by reaching out to more established groups, I have been able not only to garner more attention for the Scribe, but to build support. There are so many creative people at URI, and we can't reach every single one of them - we're only one group, but the wonderful thing is that we're one group out of many. By bonding with the leaders of other arts-oriented groups, we form a larger, more connected and cooperative creative community.

What is the best part of being the President of The Independent Scribe?
I think the best part is also the worst part - power. Or more specifically, balancing power with the desire to maintain as democratic a process as possible. This is probably where my political science background gets the biggest workout. I swear, this isn't a creepy social experiment! What I find so enjoyable, despite the challenges, is the opportunity to blend the skills acquired through my English and Political Science majors in a practical way.

The Independent Scribe members put in a lot of time. What makes all the time and energy sacrificed to the publishing God worth it for you?
I love books. Always have, always will. I love how they feel in my hands, and I almost always have one in my bag for leisure reading. Being able to participate in the creation of a book is a huge thrill. I love exploring all the work that is sent in for our consideration, and planning the flow of our final product. When we finally get to hold the finished publication, it's indescribable. So much love and attention went into its creation, and being able to share that love with others is equally thrilling.

How was the business of The Independent Scribe different this semester from previous ones?
Money, honey. We have it.

What do you think sets The Independent Scribe apart from other publications of its kind?
My stance on remaining insular to the URI community has been controversial, but I believe that there is such a wealth of talent that deserves to be showcased. I believe that growth can occur in a small environment and still be significant. URI boasts such diverse student and alumni bodies, basically a renewable source of creative energy for the Scribe to channel into a beautiful, powerful publication.

Funniest story from this semester while working on the Scribe?
Page 131 of the final product. What are the odds of every single editor misreading the same line the same way?

What is your favorite piece (or top 3) in this Fall 2009 edition? Why?
My top 3 pieces this semester are:

"House of Hosts" - the sheer novelty of a 9 page poem with a consistent meter and rhyme is exciting, and the fact that it is so well-crafted and compelling shows tremendous skill
"Dandelions and Doodlebugs" - even just skimming this piece during layout gave me chills, it's so haunting and beautiful
"7 o'clock News" - I love how much conflict occurs in such a short piece, and in such a wry tone

Is there anyone in particular you want to give a shout out to, thank or otherwise acknowledge at this time?
I had a teacher in high school who told me that applying to college would be a waste of my time. There were times when I thought he might be right, that I wasn't going to be successful, and that's such a hurtful thing to carry around as a young student. But it clearly was not a self-fulfilling prophecy. His doubts definitely stick with me today, but I find my anger toward him to be motivating - it's taken a long time, but I am confident in my abilities and proud of the path my life has taken.

Similarly, I also want to thank all the teachers I had in those same 4 years who believed that I could succeed. The best advice I ever got was from a teacher who told me, "Never stop reading," and that's the prophecy I am to fulfill.

Is it true all those involved in publishing are addicted to caffine?
I can say with absolutely no authority whatsoever that this rumor is 100% false.

If you had to blow up one of the art pieces featured in the Fall 2009 edition of The Independent Scribe into a flashy, fashion-forward dress, which would it be and why?
"Jenn's Wedding Present" would look great as a shimmery mini-dress. Maybe something sort of mod, '60s-inspired. I think Twiggy has crept into my subconscious as an alter-ego, and she was pretty fierce back in the day.

Okay, now I wish it was a real dress, because I do not know what to wear for the launch.

If you had to have a line (or lines) from a piece in the Fall 2009 edition tattooed on your body, what would it be and where would you put it? Why?
The final line of "The Jesus Toast." And it would go wherever tattoos hurt the least. I am completely afraid of needles. If I can be under general anesthesia during the tattooing process, even better.

What do you plan to do post-Scribe?
Tell-all book, talk show circuit...maybe an extended vacation. Preferably to a place with cabana boys and trays of frozen daiquiris.

Another Fab Find

2009-10-24T16:28:00.002-04:00

The Asia Foundation is holding a fundraiser for the Morwakee school in Thailand; the children who attend this school cannot afford storybooks.

Vote for your favorite children's book, and the winning title will be donated to the school.

Fab Find of the Day

2009-10-24T16:02:00.004-04:00

Confession: We may be having some difficulty focusing on layout today, our second 8-hour day of the process.

Fab City, USA: Our procrastination has yielded a fabulous find! Check out Antler, a fierce online creative publication that identifies as a fashion magazine, but does oh-so-much more (and one that really channels the final page of our Fall 2009 edition!)

Check 'em out!

CONGRATULATIONS!

2009-10-20T17:12:00.002-04:00

The results are in, and the ~~Oscar~~ honor of being published in the Fall 2009 edition of the Independent Scribe goes to a grand total of 28 spectacular individuals! After reading through hundreds of pages of writing, and a tremendous array of artwork, we've assembled an exciting publication full of humor, elegance, and spectacular vibrance.

Our most heartfelt congratulations to:

Rob LeBlanc
Mercer Smith
Joe LiVolsi
Britany Taylor
Laura Tetreault
Ray Mathieu
Linda Langlois
Mollie Bergeron
Ankawha Blain
Morgan Turano
Dylan Thompson
Nick McKnight
Samuel D. Aboh
Katie Walsh
Nick Rutter
Sarah Payne
Patricia Weisenseel
Katharine McAllister
George C. Whaley, Jr.
Marie Ventura
Lars Nelson
Shayne O'Sullivan
Jessica Watson
Brandon Genest
Eric Slade
Erik Giorgi
Holly Tran
Ian Mohon

Extra-special congratulations to Nick McKnight, who is not only a featured poet, but this edition's cover artist! No spoilers, but we can assure you that it is a lively, colorful piece that we are so excited for you to see when the publication is released.

Keep your eyes peeled for more announcements about our launch event in November!

The National Day on Writing

2009-10-20T14:31:00.004-04:00

Today is NCTE's National Day on Writing! On October 8th, 2009 the U.S. Senate passed a resolution declaring today a national holiday. NCTE believes:

Whether we call it texting, IMing, jotting a note, writing a letter, posting an email, blogging, making a video, building an electronic presentation, composing a memo, keeping a diary, or just pulling together a report, Americans are writing like never before. Recent research suggests that writing, in its many forms, has become a daily practice for millions of Americans. It may be the quintessential 21st century skill. By collecting a cross-section of everyday writing through a National Gallery of Writing, we will better understand what matters to writers today—and when writing really counts. Understanding who writes, when, how, to whom, and for what purposes will lead to production of improved resources for writers, better strategies to nurture and celebrate writers, and improved policy to support writing.

The aim of today's holiday is for writers of any genre, caliber, age or locale to pause and share their writing. For The Independent Scribe, the National Day on Writing could not have come at a more appropriate time; our editorial staff spent hours yesterday reviewing, critiquing and thoroughly enjoying all of the submissions we've received for the fall. With the review process behind us, our board will now dive into layout, and become wholly familiar and, yes, even intimate with the works chosen for publication. The Independent Scribe board, although we have not a minute to spare and pause, is certainly plowing full-speed-ahead toward publication by reading, re-reading and, honestly, adoring the work URI's writers have chosen to share with us. After reviewing 160+ pages last night, we can testify confidently: America - and certainly URI students - are indeed writing, NCTE! And this accomplishment is definitely worthy of a national holiday.

In celebration of the first-even National Day on Writing, NCTE is also hosting a web gallery of writing. Any and everyone can contribute to the national gallery, read any of the posted texts or start up a Local Gallery. The writings published on the site cover the proverbial gambit of genre, encompassing: Poetry, fiction, nonfiction, song lyrics, recipes, dirty laundry lists, film reviews, critical essays, to-do lists, character development plans, word-vomit, travel texts, personal narratives, diary entries and beyond. Browsing the gallery is definitely worth one's time, if not only for the variety of texts.

Patrons of the gallery may utilize the search engine to find galleries based on geography, age, purpose or key words. Numerous galleries have been opened in Rhode Island, including one by a URI Writing Class: WRT 490 at URI. Many talented URI students, including our own editor-in-chief, can be found here. Moreover, a number of writers being printed in our Fall 2009 edition also appear in this Local Gallery space; browse the space and enjoy fellow URI writer's "writings from the everyday."

Contributing to the National Gallery of Writing is easy. One must simply make an account, using an email address, and upload the desired file for publication. I strongly encourage all of your to submit a piece of writing you are proud of to this gallery; there is a particular pride that comes with "going public," and we believe it is an unusual sensation all writers are entitled to and should experience.

If you chose to submit to the National Gallery or start up a Local Gallery, please leave a comment below so we can view your work! We look forward to seeing you in the gallery.

Time's Up!

2009-10-16T21:08:00.003-04:00

As of 4 PM, our Fall 2009 deadline has passed!

Extensive, copious thanks to everyone who submitted. We've had a grand time reading and discussing your submissions. To those of you whose submissions are currently awaiting review, we are so excited to get cracking on Monday.

We will be greenlighting submissions in the next week or two, so watch your inboxes!

And now for something completely different - the layout process. Layout can be very nit-picky work, and very time-consuming, but that attention to detail guarantees that we can showcase everyone's fine work.

We had an excellent meeting with our publisher, and are feeling very positive about this edition. We discussed our layout options, cover stock, and our timeline. Once we get the ball rolling, we'll be able to release more details.

Right now, we're aiming for a November launch and a reading event. We'll be able to share more information as our short-term goals are met - all these little tasks bring us closer to our ultimate goal of sharing the myriad talents of URI's students and alumni.

I am tremendously proud of the work our editorial board has done so far, and am looking forward to seeing this edition come to fruition.

In the coming weeks, we will be making more announcements about our Spring 2010 deadline; we have also held over the Secret Society of Demolition Scribers contest until spring.

Again, my deepest thanks to all of our interested writers and artists. We have seen so much beautiful, exciting, and even funny, material that we cannot wait to share with the University community.

Fall Deadline Fast Approaching!

2009-10-12T13:27:00.004-04:00

Hello, Scribe-fans!

Remember that this Friday is our deadline for the Fall 2009 edition! We've still got plenty of room for more poetry, essays, short fiction, and artwork - so send it our way!

And a couple of meeting notes for this week:

Monday - we will be scouring Fine Arts for submissions.
Wednesday - we will be attending Prof. Mary Cappello's reading of Called Back.
Friday - deadline! We may be meeting to review the last of the submissions, details to follow soon.
Near Future - we will be announcing some exciting upcoming events* within the next week, watch this space for more!

That's what's new with us, so keep the submissions coming in. And remember, anything received after Friday will be reserved for the Spring 2010 review queue.

* - What kind of events, you may ask. We're ironing out the details of our production process, planning a launch event, and picking our Spring 2010 deadline. We're not kidding when we say we're busy.

September in Review

2009-09-30T13:36:00.003-04:00

Well, Scribe-fans, we've made it through our first month of activity for the 2009-2010 school year. And what a busy month it's been!

Week 1 (9/14 - 9/18) - The Brainstorming Week
We spent our time talking about things we can do to raise the Independent Scribe's profile on campus. We have good working relationships with several writers, and want to attract and foster new talent. Some ideas so far:

Advertising in other URI media outlets.
T-shirts for the group - plus, a new, permanent logo!
New contest idea to highlight some of the stellar poets we've met.
We have several contacts in the English department - can we expand our communications into other departments? Art, Theater, Journalism, the honors program, etc.

Week 2 (9/21 - 9/25) - The Review Process Begins!
Now that we've made connections with students through First Night and the Student Organization Fair, the submissions have been coming in. We began our first round of reviews, with several prose pieces and a healthy dose of poetry.

Our prose submissions this week:

Obscurity
I Love God
da Vinci Mirror Tricks
The Crypt of Clive Owen/Necropolis
Terminating a Community and Society Ill
Bump in the Road

Our poetry submissions this week:

Dimensions of the Mind
Quiet Dreams
Crawl
Black Coffee
Rug Burn
Dream of Fantasy
What You Need
Paper Mache Plans
Four Loves
Be My Noose
Matza

Week 3 (9/28 - 10/2) - More Submissions!
After an excellent week of review, new Scribe members are well on their way to becoming proficient editors, thanks to our highly knowledgeable editor-in-chief, Kate.

Our Monday submissions were critical essays, an important part of our publication since we encourage engagement with texts not just as creators, but as readers. We learn about exciting new perspectives from the work we receive, and cannot wait to pass it on to our readers.

(We've also been celebrating Banned Book Week.)

Our critical essay queue for this week:

Thoreau's Sublime Wreckage in Cape Cod
Brown's Use of Volatile in The Coquette
Soul-Sickness, the Ocean, and All Things Remote in Melville's Moby-Dick and Jewitt's Country of the Pointed Firs

Today, our final meeting for the month of September, brings us back to poetry. On the menu for this afternoon:

House of Hosts
The Untitled Rehab One
The Untitled Prose
Death in Magneticism
The Untitled One about the Cemetery

If any of the above submissions are yours, you can expect our feedback in the near future. We will accept re-submitted, revised material for further consideration - we're always happy to work with writers to get a piece ready for print.

What's next for the Independent Scribe? October will certainly be busy, as our deadline for all submissions is Friday the 16th at 4 PM. That still gives you plenty of time to send us your material - and there's still time to enter our contest!

Special thanks to all of our returning members for, well, returning! And to our new members for checking us out (and liking us enough to stay).

Additional thanks to Marisa, our treasurer/secretary for her prompt minutes; to Kate, for her wealth of knowledge and ability to embrace our new, younger members; to Bryan, for teaching us what "surpirse" means (don't ask).

We hope to continue receiving submissions from everyone, and look forward to working with you for the remainder of the semester.

Happy Banned Books Week!

2009-09-27T22:45:00.003-04:00

image via The American Library Association

September 26th through October 3rd is Banned Books Week, a celebration of the First Amendment and the importance of free access to reading materials. Founded in 1982, BBW is a response to the to the sudden uptick in challenges against books commonly found in schools, libraries, and stores. Criteria for banning ranges from displeasure over sexual or violent content to positive portrayals of minorities (most prominently the gay community) or negative portrayals of racial or religious groups.

These bans have taken place in hundreds of communities across the country. Books targeted for banning include contemporary fiction - including children's picture books! - and much-loved classics. To combat the rise in challenges on books, librarians and bookstore owners have taken it upon themselves to defy censorship by displaying these titles as legitimate, welcome works of literature.

What were the top 10 banned or challenged books of 2008? According to BannedBooksWeek.org and the American Library Association, they were:

And Tango Makes Three (Richardson, Parnell) - banned for anti-ethnic/anti-family sentiments, religious viewpoint, portrayal of homosexuality; deemed unsuitable for age group.

His Dark Materials trilogy (Pullman) - banned for religious/political viewpoint, violence.

TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R series (Myracle) - banned for offensive language, sexually explicit content; deemed unsuitable for age group.

Scary Stories series (Schwartz) - banned for portrayal of the occult/satanism, religious viewpoint, violence.

Bless Me, Ultima (Anaya) - banned for portrayal of the occult/satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit content, violence.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Chbosky) - banned for drugs, portrayal of homosexuality, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit content, suicide; deemed unsuitable for age group.

Gossip Girl series (von Ziegesar) - banned for offensive language, sexually explicit content; deemed unsuitable for age group.

Uncle Bobby's Wedding (Brannen) - banned for portrayal of homosexuality; deemed unsuitable for age group.

The Kite Runner (Hosseini) - banned for offensive language, sexually explicit content; deemed unsuitable for age group.

Flashcards of My Life (Harper) - banned for sexually explicit content; deemed unsuitable for age group.

The American Library Association also has a list of the most frequently banned or challenged books of the 20th century - how many of these classics have you read?

For more information on Banned Books Week in the US, visit:

The American Library Association - get free downloads of BBW posters, webpage badges, and lists of banned books from previous years.

Banned Books Week - see a map of all the communities in the US with registered book challenges from 2007 to 2009; find a list of things you can do to promote reading controversial books.

UPenn's Online Books Page - find general information on banned books throughout history, and why people today are so concerned with children's literature.

"Why Banned Books Week Matters" - Library scientist John Mark Ockerbloom's essay on the importance of BBW and the twin freedoms endorsed by celebrating it - the freedom to read AND the freedom to write.

For an international perspective on censoring writers, visit:

Amnesty USA - learn about the far-reaching impact of literary censorship; read cases in which authors and members of the foreign media have been harrassed or imprisoned for their artistic or critical expression.

Happy (dangerous) reading, everyone!

Wear Your Favorite Word!

2009-09-17T10:39:00.005-04:00

Scriber Derek enjoys the word "gadget."

Is there a word or phrase you really love? Let the Scribe know! Send us a photo of yourself wearing your favorite word and we'll include it in our Facebook album.

Photos can be sent to theindependentscribe [at] gmail [dot] com with "Wear Your Favorite Word" in the subject line. Make sure your name and your word are in the body of the email so we can properly credit you for your submission. And please, no profanity or nudity.

All approved images will become property of The Independent Scribe*, but you're more than welcome to use your picture as a profile image on Facebook. If you want to use your photo outside of Facebook, we ask that you credit The Independent Scribe.

Have fun with this one, and we look forward to seeing your photos!

* - our album is a friends-only feature on our Facebook page to protect the privacy of those whose pictures have been posted.

Fall 2009 Meeting Schedule

2009-09-11T16:13:00.003-04:00

Thanks to the efforts of the wonderful Marisa, we are pleased to announce that we have our meeting schedule for the semester, starting this Monday, September 14!

On Mondays, we will meet in 308 of the Memorial Union. This room holds about 35 people, so be sure to come early for a good seat.

On Wednesdays, we will meet in 318 of the Memorial Union (except for the 16th, when we will meet in 360 - don't worry if you can't find us, someone at the Info Desk will be able to help you out). This room holds about 50 people, but again, be sure to be early for a good seat.

Our schedule is available on the Memorial Union website in case you forget where we are.

And you can always check any of our web pages for up-to-date info on meetings and other goings-on:

Facebook
Twitter

And don't forget to bone up on our submissions guidelines in time to enter our first-ever contest.

We're looking forward to seeing you on Monday!

Fall 2009 Contest - The Secret Society of Demolition Scribers

2009-09-06T00:02:00.002-04:00

The Challenge "What would you write if no one knew who you were? In the spirit of the demolition derby, where drivers heedlessly take risks with reckless abandon, welcome to the first convocation of the Secret Society of Demolition Writers. Here is a one-of-a-kind collection of famous authors writing anonymously - and dangerously."

So says Marc Parent in the introduction to the book. He rounded up 12 famous contemporary authors and asked them to write something daring, something spectacular, something their editors and agents would never let see the light of day.

How it Works Write. Whatever you want it to be, no matter how dark or silly or sexy or painfully honest. Send it our way with "FALL 2009 CONTEST" in the subject line (and as always, make sure your name does not appear in the body of the text).

We'll choose a small, select group of winners and feature them together. Your name will appear in the table of contents, but will not be associated with your piece. We want to publicly thank you for submitting and congratulate you for winning, and we will guarantee your anonymity by never sharing who wrote which piece.

Remember, all entries must be received by Friday, October 16 at 4 PM. Any contest entries received after this point will not be considered.

For more information on Marc Parent's book, visit your favorite online retailer.

Best of luck to you all, and happy writing!

The Independent Scribe Does First Night 2009

2009-09-05T23:13:00.010-04:00

If you're one of URI's incoming freshman, be sure to visit us tomorrow at First Night! We've got lots of copies of to give out, plus information and a fun activity.

Hope to see you there!

The Perks of Being Our Friend

2009-09-03T15:43:00.003-04:00

The Independent Scribe loves making friends.
On Facebook? So are we!

As much as we love our blog readers (and we do love you, oh-so-much), there are some decidedly awesome things about being our Facebook friend as well:

Be among the first to know about our events.
Have early access to fun surprises - incidentally, watch this space for a terrific surprise this weekend!
See what our friends love. Scribers share tons of great links on our wall, from movie trailers to off-campus event information, all kinds of things they think we'd like. And we're pretty sure you'd like it, too.
Take a peek at photos from our events.
Get to know our members. Scribers are a friendly bunch, and are more than happy to get to know folks who are interested in joining.

And if you're on Twitter, be our friend there, too! Get the latest on Scribe events and appearances, meetings, and other news in 140 characters or less.

So join us, and get your daily dose of Scribe goodness on your favorite social networks.

PS: Don't forget that we can always be reached at theindependentscribe [at] gmail [dot] com for all your questions and comments about meetings, events, and submissions.

The Independent Scribe 2009-2010 Submissions Guidelines

2009-08-25T13:53:00.005-04:00

The Independent Scribe is now accepting student-produced arts and literature submissions, encompassing across a vast creative gambit of genre.

When in doubt - assume the Scribe is interested and please send it our way!

Who Can Submit We are currently accepting writing and artwork from undergraduates and graduate students solely from the University of Rhode Island. We are also thrilled to receive submissions from our alumni.

What to Submit No more than 5 poems or 10 pages of prose at a time.

How to Submit Electronically, to theindependentscribe [at] gmail [dot] com. Please send text submissions as .doc attachments; art submissions as .jpg attachments. Remove writer's name from all submissions.

When to Submit We work on a rolling submissions calendar, but only works received by October 16th, 4PM will be considered for the Fall 2009 publication. All works received after 4PM on the 16th will be considered in the Spring 2010 submission pool.

We look forward to hearing from all the talented individuals in the University community.

President's Message - Welcome!

2009-08-25T13:28:00.005-04:00

Spring 2009 cover art

"All Become Italian Dreams," Eric Slade

Welcome to the official website of The Independent Scribe, URI's arts and literature publication! To date, the Scribe has enjoyed 3 successful editions featuring the best student-produced writing and artwork at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

This semester, our submission deadline is Friday, October 16th by 4 PM - any submissions received after this deadline will be put into the review pool for the spring edition. All submissions must be emailed to theindependentscribe [at] gmail [dot] com, and your name must not appear on the body of the document to ensure a proper anonymous review (a cover letter or introductory statement in the email is welcomed). Our copyright policy is such that full rights are returned to the student either upon publication or rejection of their material, and all submitting students will be notified in advance of the editorial board's decision.

(Don't worry, these rules will get their own special post.)

All URI students are invited to attend our meetings on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 4-6 PM. A location will be announced when it has been secured.

Be sure to bookmark this site and visit frequently for such goodies as event announcements, contests, reviews of writing resources, and other fun features. We are also available on Twitter and Facebook!

Thanks for visiting. Happy reading and writing!