Each fall for the past three years, a burgeoning community of student-writers has filled Kissell Auditorium in support of the Writer’s Reading, a student-conceived event that is quickly becoming the newest Wittenberg literary tradition.
The 160-attendance for the Oct. 27 reading was “a lot more than I expected it to be,” said Charles J. “Chuck” Carlise, ’99, this year’s organizer. “Judging by the turnout the last three years, I’d say the campus is excited about writing.”
Indeed. The reading, diverse in both content and genre, was delivered to a packed house of supportive peers and mentors. Contained within the fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction were nuggets of humor, poignancy and every emotion in between.
“The readers themselves were comfortable enough to put on a show that I was entertained by,” Carlise said.
The Writer’s Reading is the brainchild of Amanda R. Williamsen, ’97.
She coordinated the inaugural reading in December 1996, in part so that student-writers could share their creativity with the campus and each other.
“I thought we had to have some sort of forum for students to stand up and read in front of an audience,” she said. “It’s a great way for writers to get to know each other, and the reading is that kind of event.”
As a result, Williamsen embarked on three weeks of exhaustive organizing, which included reserving space, creating a program and preparing a lineup of writers.
Even though the 1996 reading was heavily advertised, Williamsen was still surprised to find the seats in Kissell nearly full. Many faculty members also attended. “I was so pleased that the faculty showed support for student readings,” she said.
But Wittenberg has a long history of attracting students interested in literary traditions. In 1846, the students formed two literary societies, the Excelsior and Philosophian.
Both flourished on campus for more than 80 years and engaged in spirited debates and contests that attracted members of the Springfield community and the Wittenberg faculty.
The societies had offices in Recitation Hall, and windows bearing their names are still visible throughout Reci. The societies later expanded to include honorary members, most notably Henry Clay and Edgar Allan Poe.
The tradition of the Writer’s Reading is finding a unique place at Wittenberg.“I’d like to think that students were looking for a niche like this,” Carlise said, “and took it upon themselves to create what was missing.”
Indeed the rebirth of literary tradition not only has ties to Wittenberg’s past but, along with the construction of Hollenbeck Hall, bears promise for future generations of campus writers.
