Extra Credit: Writ Large Launch Party

I am glad I attended the Writ Large Launch Party. I had never attended a literacy launch party before and I was scared I would feel left out because writing is not my strong suit. I had this mindset that the authors and editors were out of my league in their knowledge and discussion about writing. When I saw that two of the authors were friends I made last quarter, I became interested. I saw how the authors were much like myself so I felt curious to learn about their publication and how they became involved with Writ Large.

                At the beginning, some people gave speeches. Then, authors read from their pieces and answered questions. I was surprised how personal the stories were to the authors. I can tell that each author had a connection to their writing. I will mention a few authors and what they wrote about. Sara is a Native American descent and she wrote a research paper about inclusive excellence and diversity at the University of Denver. Cicely’s grandmother has advanced dementia and she wrote about the struggles of dementia. Sonia is of African descent and she wrote about black hair. I enjoyed the question and answer session between the editors and the authors. The purpose was to inform the audience more about Writ Large and the literacy aspect of it.

                The launch party ended with questions from the audience. Although most of the questions were from the writing staff especially Doug Hesse, the authors had to think on their feet so their answers were blunt. When asked who the intended audience of their original work was, most of the authors said it was intended for their professor and themselves only. However, they admit that having the opportunity to share their work with the world was not what any of them expected so it was interesting to hear how why they decided to become involved with Writ Large. The other question that caught my attention was whether the authors shared their writings with anyone beside their professor. This question made me realize that they authors are normal university students because all, except one author, kept their writings to themselves and I can see that a publication in Writ Large doesn’t change the fact that they are still unsure of their writings at times and prefer to keep it to themselves.