Leila El Sabbagh
Staff Writer
The University of La Verne Creative Writing department hosted its first student prose reading event of the academic year Tuesday in the Ludwick Center Sacred Space.
The event consisted of three student authors who read their works. Roughly 40 ULV community members attended the event.
The first reader, Jeremy Evans, a junior creative writing major, wrote an immersive piece called “Alone Until the World Disappeared.”
The piece focuses on two people who fall in love and eventually move in together.
However, the monotony and the feeling of the same routine eventually breaks the couple apart and drives one of the lovers away.
Evans shared what he wants listeners to take away from his writing.
“I just want people to walk away having felt something,” Evans said. “My stories are very emotionally driven and I put a lot of myself into them.”
The next reader, Sara Dawidian, a sophomore creative writing major, wrote a fiction piece about the all too real overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The piece put the audience in the perspective of a pregnant woman awaiting her child’s birth. As her pregnancy progresses, she slowly recognizes her pregnancy is going wrong.
As the woman died during childbirth, the piece expands upon the concept of how many lives are sacrificed under the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
Dawidian shared how this piece was an imagining of herself dying due to abortion bans.
Dawidian also shared how writing has helped her mental health in writing about difficult topics.
“I think creative writing is a super helpful outlet when you have mental health issues,” Dawidian said. “Everything stays bottled up, but with creative writing it’s a way to express those emotions in a productive way.”
The final reader, Gummy Procida, a sophomore creative writing student, wrote her own rendition of Snow White, titled “The Snow Prince.”
Procida tells the story based on a male version of Snow White naming the character the Snow Prince.
After being tormented by a wicked princess, the prince runs away, finds a small town and falls in love with the town baker.
The piece concludes happily ever after as the original Snow White does.
Procida said that her creative writing classes have helped her develop her skills.
“Learning everything from the way you write a sentence to how the story overall interacts within itself is very unique and extensive,” Procida said.
After the writers shared their work, they addressed questions from the audience.
When asked about their writing process, each writer revealed their personal processes.
Dawidian said she writes her entire piece then goes back and writes it again from memory.
“It helps you remember the really important parts of your stories,” Dawidian said.
Evans said that he revises his pieces as he writes. Procida likes to brainstorm with close friends, gaining their feedback on what she should include.
“I personally get inspiration (from) and I love hearing what my classmates have to say,” said Lily Bower-Moore, a sophomore creative writing student, who attended the event Tuesday. “I think it’s really interesting to see how each of them have a different approach.”
Sean Bernard, professor of creative writing and coordinator of the event, shared how students make connections in his class.
“I start almost every class session sitting down and asking how everyone is doing,” Bernard said. “The normalizing of ourselves as humans is something I do to get students to build connections.”
The next half of the student prose reading event will be held at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 12 in the Ludwick Center Sacred Space.
Leila El Sabbagh can be reached at leila.elsabbagh@laverne.edu.
Leila El Sabbagh is the sports editor for the Campus Times. She is a sophomore journalism major with a concentration in broadcast journalism who aspires to be a sports broadcaster. She has previously served as a staff writer for the Campus Times.
Chris Rodriguez is a senior photography major and photo editor of the Campus Times.
