Wish Tank

Recently I had the enormous pleasure of reading for the Echoes & Visions reading series at Wor-Wic Community College in Salisbury, MD. I hadn’t heard of Wor-Wic before I was invited by Melissa Reddish, a writer who teaches at Wor-Wic and coordinates their student Art Club. Wor-Wic is made up of about eight or nine buildings, and they offer several vocational degrees and certificates. Many of their students transfer into the University of Salisbury for four year degrees. In English they offer a standard slate of reading, writing and literature courses but no courses permanently dedicated to creative writing as far as I can tell. However, they do have Melissa, as well as poet Adam Tavel, and together they have inspired a core group of creative students with really big ideas. It was my privilege to work with a small group of energized student writers (novelists, of course) before reading from Death Wishing and Curio to a group of about 30-40 later that evening. I found the whole thing very inspiring–and a great reminder that programs don’t make writers.