by Sabrina Brady
CREATIVE WRITING
at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco
Welcome! CW develops the art and craft of creative writing through instruction, collaboration, and respect. This blog showcases STUDENT WRITING and how to APPLY to Creative Writing.
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by Abigail (’14)
On Friday the third, Umläut had a successful (and profitable) release party for the 2014 issue, dubbed Plastic Knives! We pity everyone who wasn’t there, and we’re sure those who came didn’t regret spending the night before Prom with us.
While the prime attraction was, obviously, this year’s Umläut— as professional and polished as ever, but with a new matte cover this time— there was also great music by Rin Tin Tiger and Mayya Feygina, food donated by Arizmendi and CW parents, and a raffle. It was probably one of the balmiest days we’ll see this year, but most people managed to stay inside long enough to listen to several of the published authors read their work.
We couldn’t have done it without 826 Valencia’s generosity in offering us the space for the night, free! Thanks to the parents who contributed to covering what 826 usually charges.
If you missed the party, we trust you won’t make the same mistake again next year, but you can get your new Umläut at SOTA at lunch (we’re selling outside of the CW room) or by emailing abeschott@gmail.com. Soon it should be available to purchase online at http://sotashop.myshopify.com/products/umlautliterary-journal.
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by Molly (’15)
I have a crush on Flannery O’Connor.
No, not that kind of crush. A literary crush. We all have one, right? That one particular author who makes us so excited we could kiss the book, or whose sentence structure makes us melt a little inside? Even though literary crushes are common, people seem to think my “thing” for Flannery takes it to the next level. Maybe it’s because I squeal whenever her name is said, or because my eyes go wide when the words “Southern” and “fiction” are used in the same sentence, or because I want to raise peacocks on a dairy farm in Georgia instead of going to college like I’m supposed to.
I don’t know what these feelings are, but they are very strong. This happens to me a lot, but I have never had such intense feelings for a person whom I’ve never even met, whom I have only grown to know through biographies and letters and stories, a person whom I know I’ll never meet due to my cruel placement in the twenty-first century.
The weirdest part is that I can’t even explain to myself why I like her so much. You’d think it would be her fiction, and I’m not denying that her fiction is spectacular (that is such an understatement), but there must be some greater pull. All I can do is guess, but I think my love for Flannery O’Connor stems from the fact that she has opened my mind so much that it hurts. She has introduced me to religion and its importance, removing me from the annoying close-minded atheist position I held previously. This isn’t to say I’m suddenly a militant Catholic, but I’m less sure of the world than I was before, which I find to be a positive change. What she’s done is forced me to think. Flannery, although so removed in time and space, has had a huge impact on my life.
Plus she’s really pretty.
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Congratulations to Maya Litauer (’15) for her publication in the About Place Journal:
Visceral
I am a soft body,
wrap me in your glowing shroud
and watch me sing.
Bathe me in your salty sweat
as we fade into the forest
of skin.
Our edges are sunset,
out roots and our branches
connect what we see.
Lather me into
your dry cracks
and watch me come to life.
Close your eyes and graze
my tips with yours –
my bark is marked
with longings.
We have eyes,
in our leaves,
we know what warmth is –
take some from my
roots and bury it in your
folds. -
by Mykel (’14)
There’s a feeling I like to call “end of the year nihilism,” and it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like. For someone as lazy and evasive as yours truly, heaps of final projects and tests often result in what the experts like to call a “fuck-it-all coma.”
I’m trying to avoid that scary place in my brain this year. And you know what’s really helping out with that right now? Our awesome artist in residence, Sarah Fontaine.
Oh yes, this is one of those posts.
Her combination of flexibility and structure, experimentation and “engagement with discipline” reminds me how meaningful school can be. I am personally having a great time with the genre-bending texts she has us reading, but our unit gives me more than texts to think about. It reminds me what a huge privilege it is to spend all my days learning. In other words, even if some of my experience with school is annoying and uncomfortable, it’s still not “a dog and pony show.” (Sarah Fontaine’s words.) It still has things to offer me.
Just because Creative Writing is in the middle of a really cool unit doesn’t mean that school is fun all of a sudden. But doing things like listening to an entire album without distractions, holding silent conversations, and reading confusing literature make me more willing to sit through things that may be boring or uncomfortable. And more than that, the kinds of homework we are being assigned remind me to be more open to what my “boring” experiences have to offer me.
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Shanna, a senior in the Creative Writing Department, will be going to University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington next year – figuring out what she wants to do with the rest of her life while simultaneously trying not to drown in all the rain. After that, who knows what she’ll be doing. She’d like to move around and go abroad at some point. But at the ripe age of 18, she’s just gonna wherever the wind takes her.
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I’m sure many of you wonder what the near future holds for the current Creative Writing Seniors. Well, here is a little blurb about Hazel’s plans.
Next year, Hazel Mankin will be attending UC Santa Cruz, where she expects to study writing and literature. However, she is also excited to expand her knowledge of mechanical engineering, world history, architecture, hand-to-hand combat, and cooking. She’s excited to move forward and see where life takes her.
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by Lizzie (’14)
When we think of the people of this world, we picture them clothed, all their subtle ridges and proportions masked. One could argue that clothing is a vital armor of day-to-day life and one could also argue that the coverage of the human body is directly correlated to the insecurities we hold toward our image. Yes, clothing protects us from the cold and the brutalities of the weather, but what about when clothes are not necessary? More often than not, clothing is used to smother our self-consciousness, hiding what we’re uncomfortable with—but what if we did not have that defense mechanism? What if clothing was not only optional but useless?
Everyone in the world has something they wish they could change about themselves, and that something tends to be physical. For example, if someone is not pleased with the appearance of his midsection he is able to cover it up with flowing or bulky shirts. He is insecure because he is afraid of what people might think if they saw it. However, if nudity was the norm, he would have nothing to hide; his body fully exposed lifts the veil of secrecy.
Not only would nudism diminish physical insecurities, it would also dampen the separation between the rich and the poor. “They buy me all these ices. Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi and that Donna Karan, they be sharin’, all their money got me wearin’ fly,” sings Fergie in the famous Black Eyed Peas song, “My Humps.” The clothing brands mentioned in the lyrics are notoriously expensive. A fan of the Black Eyed Peas may listen to the song and find herself desiring the brands Fergie mentions but she may not have the money to spend on such frivolous investments. This digs a deeper trench between the rich and the poor. Without clothing, that trench between the affluent and the less wealthy would be shallower and easier to pass through, thus creating a more united society.
If society came to the point of simply viewing humans as naked, in their natural state, physical insecurities would be dissolved and class alienation would be less definitive. So when hip-hop artist, Nelly, sang, “Take off all your clothes,” in his smash hit, “Hot in Here,” he was not only making a statement about the heat but also about how to subside many people’s irrational and unnecessary insecurities.
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by Shanna (’13)
i didn’t eat for 3 days and 3
stupid
boys
told me i looked skinny enough
to toss in a bed
and i broke 3 nails
punching them outyou’re scared of me because i
curse like it’s my first language and
i act like i’m 6’2
even though i don’t wear
high heels cause they
make me feel inferior
to you
and your dirty sneakersi’m good at telling the truth
like
my english teacher won’t know
what the fuck to do with my poetry
cause it’s gnarly, messy
unrhymed and i probably mention
something inappropriate
like that time you
told me you think about me naked
when you close your eyes
in the showerwhen you try to kiss me i’ll probably
ask you if i look like your ex
i’m good at that
awkward small talk
bumping hands like
my limbs are
little accidentsi understand if you wanna pick
another blonde
with longer legs and bluer eyes
with a cleaner mouth, better breath
i’m a little used
and i still have scars
and discolorations
up and down my
body
from the bites
and brush strokes
of everyone
before you
who told me
i was perfect
till i wasn’ti have a problem
with the way you
make eye contact
like it’s delicate
instinctive
and i hate the way you
get so close to my face
like you’re trying to find
out what i had for lunch
like you’re trying to
crawl into my mouth
againi wrote your name on my notebooks
and the insides of my fingers
the kind of ink that smears when you lick it
the kind that gets on your neck
when i pull you forward
yanking out your molars
with my tongue
and i don’t want to be around me
when i’m in a bad mood
eitherthere are parts of
my body
you’ll only see in
a textbook
and i’m sorry for
all the creepy glances
at the bus stop
but i don’t like handshakes
and i don’t want your hugsi didn’t eat for 3 days
and you told me i
was just your type -
by Molly (’15)
As all of you have no doubt heard, Abigail has stepped down from her duties as Closet Queen. I, as her successor, would like to thank the public for electing me to this vital role in Creative Writing society.
Those of you who are familiar with Closet Queen duties know how highly sought-after this position is. It is an indescribable pleasure to scurry across the hallways, providing utensils for people’s birthdays. The joy I get from opening the door to the Creative Writing closet down the hallway with my very own key is worth the incredible responsibilities this job brings. I know that if I were to ever lose the key, my pride and sense of worth would be lost right with it; therefore, to be extra careful with the public’s trust in my abilities, I keep the keys in a locked box in another locked box in a locker, which is fortified on both the inside and the outside with stainless steel.
I assure you all that I will meet my duties with as much care as Abigail did. Although we will all miss sending her off to retrieve the cake knives and ice-cream spoons, her time as Closet Queen has come to an end, as all things do. As a junior, she was much too old for the job, which is better-suited for a wry and supple sophomore such as me. Although my time in office will also come to an end eventually, I am looking forward to a long and eventful career as Creative Writing’s loyal Closet Queen, and once again thank you all for selecting me.
