CAMPUS VOICE
PageJ
Friday, February 22,2008
Opportunities exist for local writers seeking audiences
Think you have to live in
New York or some other
metropolitan area to find
success as a writer? Think
again.
By VINCE WILLIAMS
Staff Writer
Not all of those who are
called upon to write are born
in a rich artistic environment.
However, this doesn’t mean
that those people have to resign
themselves to their geographical
misfortune.
One may take inspiration
from William Faulkner or
Truman Capote who hailed from
small towns in Mississippi and
Alabama, respectively. While
the rural south of the 1940s is
hardly a literary center, it does
provide one with a rich cast of
characters and an appreciation
for a well-told story.
So how does the current-day
storyteller find an audience?
According to Margaret
Baddour, a published author
and creative writing instructor
at Wayne Community College,
opportunities exist for local
authors if they look - and work
- hard enough.
Mrs. Baddour has had two
poetry books published, and is
Photo by DANIELLE JAFFE
From left, Kathryn Spicer, Rosalyn Lomax and Jeff Williams
work on the “Renaissance,” Wayne Community College’s
annual literary magazine. The publication offers a showcase
for artwork, poetry, short stories and photography done by
WCC students, as well as faculty and staff.
currently working on a novel.
In addition to the creative
writing course, which touches
on both poetry and fiction, Mrs.
Baddour is a member of the
Goldsboro Writers’ Group.
This group, currently
comprising eight to 10 members,
meets monthly during the school
year and weekly during the
summer.
It is. open to new attendees
and allows writers to exchange
constructive criticism, share
ideas and discuss upcoming
opportunities for submissions
from literary publications.
One such publication that
exists for students and staff at
Wayne Community College
is the “Renaissance,” which
provides a forum for both the
Campus Voice photo
WCC student and poet
Candice Johnson recently
won an opportunity to study
under established poet
Lenard Moore.
literary and visual arts.
Another local outlet for
those who desire a wider
audience for their craft is the
Wayne County Public Library,
which periodically conducts
poetry readings for the local
community.
Mrs. Baddour has recently
had two students win poetry
contests. The poets are Andy
Raj ski, a student in the Wayne
Early Middle High School
College Program, and Candice
Johnson, who is emolled in the
college program.
As winners of the Gilbert-
Chappell Distinguished Poets
Series, presented by the North
Carolina Poets Society, these
students will be mentored for
about six months by Lenard
Moore. Mr. Moore is Assistant
Professor of English at Mount
Olive College and author of
four books.
When approachedjjy hopeful
authors, Mrs. Baddour first
refers them to the North
Carolina Writers’ Network,
an organization that conducts
writer’s workshops, links up
editors and publishers with
writers, and offers manuscript
critiquing services to members.
The critiquing service is one
of the most valuable benefits
offered by the network, as it
allows developing writers the
opportunity to open a dialogue
about their work with established
writers and editors.
Mrs. Baddour said that the
unique ability of local authors
to tap into their folk sensibilities
and their ability to use dialect
conspire to draw the reader deep
into their story, and lend to it a
degree of credibility that is not
easily imitated.
Inside the movies
Photo by ASHLEY SULLIVAN
John Caldwell, Red Cross Mobile Unit Assistant, prepares
donated blood for transport during the blood drive held
on the Wayne Community College campus on Thursday,
Jan. 31. Eleven first-time contributors joined 41 previous
donors during the day in giving 47 total productive units
of blood.
Continued from 6
Best Actor in a Leading Role.
David Cronenberg has been
consistently great throughout
his entire career, having directed
such classics as “The Brood”,
“Scanners”, “Videodrome”,
“The Fly” (1986), “Dead
Ringers”, “Naked Lunch” and
the controversial 1996 film
“Crash.” His two latest films,
“A History of Violence” and
“Eastern Promises,” have been
by far his most mainstream
films to date, dealing with more
conventional subject matter, and
yet they are still 100 percent
Cronenberg.
“Eastern Promises” is an
excellent study of a mobster,
played by Mortenson, who does
bad things, and yet throughout
the course of the movie we
begin to believe that he is a
good person. Cronenberg wisely
relies on story and character
development, rather than visual
appeal.
The performances, writing,
and direction are exceptional,
and it’s shameful that Howard
Shore’s score was left out
(252) 566-9148
1-a00«651-5553
by the Academy. Shore has
collaborated with Cronenberg
numerous times, having scored
11 of Cronenberg’s films.
With misses like these, the
Academy Awards sometimes
feels more like a high school
homecoming, rather than a
ceremony to honor the year’s
best films.
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