Inaugural Words aWake! celebrates the written form ? Old Gold ...

For those interested in writing, the idea of finding a job after college can be worrisome, nerve-wracking and even downright terrifying. The media fuels doubt as to whether writing is a viable career choice, seeing as the Internet is filled with potential (and unpublished) writers and print is supposedly dying a slow death. Students often become discouraged with potential writing careers, seeking refuge in more ?practical? career choices.

Words Awake!, a conference to be held March 23-25 on the university?s campus, hopes to change that perception by showing that writing can indeed lead to a viable future. The conference ? the first ever to be held at Wake ? will feature a number of Wake Forest alumni who have gone on to work in the written world, whether it be through books, newspapers, television, magazines or film. These alumni will be involved in a variety of different panel discussions, performing book readings from their novels and interacting with the attendees all weekend.

Thomas Phillips, director of the Wake Forest Scholars program, said, ?There are three facets to this event: engaging the public in the rich history of writers from Wake, educating the community, faculty, students, and everyone else about the world of writing, and finally celebrating writers from Wake.?

The attending alumni will be going out into Forsyth County schools on March 23 to interact with students about writing in the real world. Later that day, one of the visiting alums, Tom Hayes, will be showing a documentary on his father, the legendary Harold Hayes, and former editor of Esquire magazine, who also graduated from Wake Forest.

March 24 will be devoted to exploring the world of writers, with panel discussions on things such as ?Writing for Business,? ?Writing/Editing Careers in North Carolina and the United States,? ?Writing/Speaking of Faith and Conscious? and ?Writing in a Dangerous World.?

The last day of the symposium (March 25) will conclude with a banquet celebrating alumni authors and the inauguration of the Wake Forest University Writers Hall of Fame.

?Very few schools celebrate those who graduate with degrees in humanities and go on to write, at least not in the same way schools celebrate student athletes who graduate and go into the major leagues,? Phillips said. ?We want to do that. We want to celebrate the people who have graduated from Wake.?

And the event truly is a celebration of writers. Anyone who wishes to come is encouraged to stop by, sit in on a panel or listen to a reading, and enjoy Wake Forest?s rich literary life.

The event is a great place for future writers to meet famous authors, journalists, editors, script-writers and even film directors. Students and faculty even have the chance to meet, talk and network with the attending writers at the Pastry Slam from 8:30 to 11 a.m. on March 25 in Benson 401.

Words Awake! isn?t just for English majors or Creative Writing minors, despite its apparent appeal for these groups. Any Wake student regardless of major or future career is encouraged to come.

?We have alums who are deeply political, writers who work in Washington with politicians, or write about them, and that would interest a political science major,? Phillips said. ?We also have writers who focus on scientific writings for things like National Geographic or the Smithsonian.?

?So if there are students who are majoring in a science, interested in writing, and wondering what they can do, they can learn. We have writers coming whose careers are in writing. There is something for everyone interested in writing.?

Senior Hannah Kay Hunt, the student representative on the Words Awake! board, agreed with this sentiment. ?I think all the panels are useful to Wake students,? Hunt said. ?What it really comes down to is what your interests are. Political science majors would find the political writers? talks interesting, while a journalism student is going to love the magazine writing panel,? Hunt added.

?Personally, I?m going to go to a mix between things I know I?m interested in and entirely foreign genres.?

Hunt went on to emphasize the conference?s significance.? ?This conference is important for Wake Forest as a whole because no matter what your future profession is, being articulate is critical to future success,? Hunt said.

?At the end of the day, all of these people use words to communicate effective messages. Writing is crucial to students of all majors and disciplines, and I think students can learn a lot (and get inspired) by these amazing alumni who have used writing and the written word to have successful careers,? Hunt added.

Students also have the unique opportunity to get involved with and get to know the writers coming to campus.

Forty students have been paired up with the writers who are coming to campus, and they will have the opportunity to spend the weekend with the writers, showing them around campus, helping them with navigating Winston-Salem and serving as a liaison between the writer and the conference as a whole.

And there are still more opportunities for students to participate who didn?t have the chance to apply to be a student liaison.

Interested students may contact either Hannah Hunt (hunthk8@wfu.edu) or Thomas Phillips (phillito@wfu.edu) to learn how they can help with public relations and general advertising for the event.

When asked what the one thing he wanted students to realize because of the event, Phillips said, ?We hope that Words Awake! will show that a Wake Forest degree can get students into the writing world; students can get a job writing.?

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Source: http://oldgoldandblack.com/inaugural-words-awake-celebrates-the-written-form/

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