It’s Just a Spark: Introducing New Creative Writing Workshops at ECC Writers Center

New to ECC’s Writers Center this fall are the “Spark Sessions,” weekly creative writing workshops open to all ECC students, regardless of major. 

The spark sessions take place every Tuesday through November in Building B, Room 275, and rotate between three genres: poetry, memoir/essay, and fiction. 

Poetry: October 14, November 4, and 25

Memoir/Essay: September 30, October 21, and November 11

Fiction: October 7 and 28, and November 18. 

“The idea is that you get together and write,” said Joshua Thusat, director of the Writers Center.  “We provide a prompt that we think might inspire you, and maybe we can banter about it, but ultimately, you’ll write. We will use the hour to write, and then there’s a follow-up prompt.”

The first session on September 2 focused on poetry. Thusat said the group read notes on Vickie Feaver’s poem, “Ironing,” and wrote their own poems inspired by randomly chosen postcard images.  

One postcard included a photo of a newly arrived immigrant to New York City. The man is seen in shorts, eating noodles on his fire escape outside with busy NYC traffic below him. This image by Chien Chi-Chang sparked lines from students such as  “hungry traffic” and “the ledge is older than the escape.”

Students are welcome to share their work during sessions, though Thusat said it’s not required.  More information about the Spark Sessions and the Writers Center can be found here.