Authors give advice to students

Students and staff members were invited to join online sessions with recent authors of the newest edition of the Alabama Literary Review (ALR). 

The sessions lasted three days, from March 30 to April 1, where authors could discuss their writing techniques, publication processes and answer any questions students had. The guest authors were also able to give advice to students. 

“Don’t be afraid to write crap,” said Terence Culleton, a retired teacher and ALR author from Langhorne, Pennsylvania. “Write as much of it as you want.  

“Later, you’ll be able to discern nuggets of gold.” 

The authors further mentioned what inspired them to create. For some, it was their day-to-day life, and for others, it was all they knew. 

“I have been writing since I was in grade school, and since then writing has been central to my life,” said J.D. Smith, a retired editor for an international organization and ALR author from Washington, DC. “I don't know how to live without focusing on the written word.” 

The authors were able to read their recently published works, which consisted of mostly poetry but also included plays, fiction and nonfiction. 

“I was deeply proud and honored to have been included in the recent reading series ALR sponsored,” said Yasmine Rana, an ALR author from New Orleans, Louisiana. “I was so excited and so proud.  

“The ALR is a profoundly meaningful part of my writer's journey.” 

The authors encouraged those who join, student writers specifically, to not give up on their work. 

“Don’t allow rejections to influence your writer's journey,” Rana said. “Keep going and you will find your ’home’ as a writer whether that be a salon, a theater, a director, a journal.” 

The hope is that writers are able to bring creative and meaningful value to a digitalized world. 

“I hope students go away feeling challenged and also respected for what they themselves, by virtue of the stage of life they are in, can bring to any of the arts: freshness of thought and imagery, an appreciation especially for creative play, and a belief in the goodness of people and the world we are in,” Culleton said.  

For more information on the ALR, visit spectrum.troy.edu.