4 I The Blue Banner ! 330.2011
Panel of female writers explain changes in media, careers
Kathy Woodard
kgwoodar@unca.edu - Staff Writer
When the Career Center held
the last of a series of career
panels for the semester, the
focus was not only the conver
gence of the written word, but
also the role of female writers.
“I think a common form of
expression for many writers
is to blog and get their ideas
out. So, when my book was not
accepted by a traditional pub
lisher, I made an online maga
zine. When the next was not, I
created a blog,” said Cornelia
Powell, creator of Weddings
of Grace online magazine.
Powell and three other wom
en writers explained their role
as women in the writing world
and changes of the written word
in general.
Approaching writing later in
life, Powell said the pure con
venience of writing in the 21st
century is what prompted her to
become an author.
“I’m a writer because of lap
"So, if there are fewer women writing
about music, good, because that means
mine will stand out. I like to believe we are
getting to a point where we are beyond
that, I mean, if other people are hung up
on it and believe that women can't write
anything as well, well then that's
sort of their problem."
Alii Marshall
Fashion editor at Mountain Xpress
tops. Cut and paste, you know,
the ease, I love it. So, I’m really
more of an editor than a writer
because I see the world that
way, in pieces,” Powell said.
Alii Marshall, fashion editor
for the Mountain Xpress, said
her entire job is changing with
the convergence of magazines
and newspapers.
“We aren’t really using the
AP style anymore, which was
essentially the rules newspapers
followed. So, it’s interesting to
go back and forth between the
print product and the online
product. I think we are all still
trying to figure it out, it’s still
pretty new,” Marshall said.
Marshall, a graduate of A-B
Tech, said she embraces the
changes as a step forward in
reporting.
“(We are) incorporating blogs
and video and photography and
any combination of those. Even
though I’m a writer and I love
the written word, I really love
the use of slideshows because
the way we digest information
has changed a lot and looking
at images really gets the mes
sage across,” Marshall said.
Joy Neaves, assistant di
rector of the UNC Asheville
writing center, said her previ
ous Job with a children’s book
publisher, illustrated how it was
obviously a woman’s world.
“It’s just very predominantly
women. Standing in a room of
children’s books publishers,
you can see that,” Neaves said.
“But, in the role of an editor,
that becomes invisible because
you are connecting one on one
with the author, and being able
to nurture their idea is a pretty
gendered role.”
Jennifer Lipsey Edwards,
author, illustrator and art ed
ucator, who writes a series of
children’s art books, explained
her struggle balancing mother
hood and her career.
“It gets harder when you
find a partner and have kids,”
Edwards said. “Not only was
I birthing a baby, I was also
birthing a book.”
Powell said being a woman
writing for women, sometimes
attracts more than ladies.
“I write mostly for women,
and the things I write about are
thought of as a women’s topic,
and at the same time I think the
world is more and more open
for relating, and open in that
way and men are listening too,
because my writing is about re
lationships, and men are just as
interested as women,” Powell
said.
Marshall said she believed
the writing world was blind to
gender.
“So, if there are fewer wom
en writing about music, good,
because that means mine will
stand out,” Marshall said. “I
like to believe we are getting
to a point where we are beyond
that, I mean, if other people are
hung up on it and believe that
women can’t write anything as
well, well then that’s sort of
their problem.”
ENERGY
continued from page 3
we really cared about, and we
wanted to do something about
it.”
Beth Porter, student govern
ment executive of sustainabil
ity, said she first learned about
the locally important issue of
mountaintop removal at Power
Shift and, as a result, became
more involved in wanting to put
an end to it.
“Students will come back as
effective and motivated change-
agents, on campus and in the
community, for the rest of their
lives,” Eggers said.
The conference includes
workshops on special topics
such as how to create a univer
sity campus that uses clean en
ergy, as well as learning how to
promote and implement clean
energy campaigns and policies.
“The weekend culminates in
training people to lobby and
talk to their political represen
tatives,” environmental studies
student Goyer said. “People
don’t realize how easy it is for
citizens to take the initiative to
do that.”
Power Shift relies on the in
fluence of the millennial gener
ation to let their voice be heard
across the nation, according to
the website. Power Shift offi
cials said they believe the envi
ronmental future of the nation
can be changed, and the confer
ence gives them the tools to do
that.
“This is the most valuable
training nationwide that I know
of in developing leadership
skills and lobbying change,”
Eggers said.
One of the biggest compo
nents of the conference is lobby
training, Goyer said. Through
teaching students how to take
the initiative and go lobby in
their own communities, the
conference emboldens them to
talk to their senators about is
sues important to them.
“People think they can’t im
pact politicians, but they don’t
try,” the ASHE president said.
“If they just try, they could see
how easy it is and how it works.
It does work because it has be
fore.”
Goyer said people should re
alize anyone can call and make
an appointment to. speak with
their political representative,
and they are obligated to meet
with them. The goal of Power
Shift is to give students the nec
essary resources and training to
make that meeting successful.
“The conference is meant to
comfort others working on the
same issues you care about,”
Porter said. “It also shows that
you have the power to enact
change on your campus.”
The conference is open to all
students, not just those in envi
ronmental studies. Porter said.
The conference also touches on
economical and social justice
issues.
“It’s open to anyone who
cares about anything,” the se
nior said.
UNC Asheville aims to take
70 students to the conference
this year.
Students have the opportu
nity to register for $10 if they
volunteer for eight hours at the
conference.
“The biggest impact all this
has had on me is realizing that
there is something much, much
bigger than yourself to care
about,” Porter said.
Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Goyer
Students Keith Fletcher and Emma Hutchens at Power Shift.