Creative Writing Program builds inspiration, collaboration and community

For the creatively inclined, Binghamton University can serve as a hub of information and opportunities.

Every month is a chance to learn and network thanks to the Creative Writing Program (CW). In the Spring 2025 semester, the program will continue its tradition of bringing established and noteworthy individuals and alumni to campus for interdisciplinary events.

"These events offer an exciting opportunity to engage in a dynamic contemporary literary community from every vantage point, from reader to creator," said Jen DeGregorio, associate director of the CW program. "Our visiting author programs give students the chance to interact with some of the most accomplished poets and prose writers producing work today; readings bring words to life that students may have otherwise only encountered on the page, while Q&A sessions allow students to speak directly with those authors to learn more about their work and the unique paths they took to create a writing life for themselves."

January

Scheduled throughout the year, the department's events begin with Common Ground, a reading series devoted to the work of both graduate and undergraduate students. Common Ground will host the first of three events on Friday, Jan. 24. Founded online during the pandemic to bring students together, the series is now held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Jay S. & Jeanne Benet Alumni Lounge of Old O'Connor Hall.

"People want community, especially creative writers, so to facilitate in-person readings in a large space that allows people to mingle, eat some finger foods and simply enjoy one another's company and solidarity in the process of making art is a huge benefit," said Derek Ellis, one of the program's coordinators. "Common Ground provides an outlet for Binghamton's CW community to meet, read and listen, and above all, create lines of communication to foster that community that suffered a hit under the COVID lockdown."

February

Two additional Common Ground readings will be held on Feb. 28 and April 25. A new collaboration during the second event will spotlight undergraduate poets from the Binghamton Poetry Club, furthering the mission to build bridges between the graduate and undergraduate writing communities on campus.

Along with this new partnership, the program will work with the Department of German and Russian Studies to feature student poets in an event devoted to international love poems in February. The CW Program will also host Binghamton alumnus Nathan Lipps, PhD '19, author of Built Around the Fire and the chapbook The Body as Passage, and Leah Umansky '02, author of three collections, including her most recent book, Of Tyrant, from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12, in the Jay S. Jeanne Benet Alumni Lounge of Old O'Connor Hall.

The program will also welcome Wendy Wimmer - an honoree for the Society of Midland Authors 2023 Book Awards and author of Entry Level, a story collection that received the 2021 Autumn House Fiction Prize and was named to Kirkus Reviews' Best Indie Short Fiction list for 2022 - for a reading and conversation from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18, in the Jay S. Jeanne Benet Alumni Lounge of Old O'Connor Hall.

March

In March, the CW program will continue the renowned Distinguished Writers Series, which brings internationally recognized authors to campus, including winners of the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award winners and Poets Laureate.

This year, Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi, an American novelist and nonfiction writer, will join the department from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 6, in the Old Champlain Hall Atrium.

A Dorothy G. Griffin College Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame and the author of Savage Tongues, Call Me Zebra and Fra Keeler, Oloomi has received a Whiting Award and the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 award. She is also the 2023-24 Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation Fiction Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University. Born in Los Angeles, Oloomi spent her childhood in Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Spain, and she speaks Farsi, Italian and Spanish.

"Oloomi's writing feels very relevant during a time of global conflict, as her work delves into the lives of individuals caught in the crosscurrents of history," said Tina Chang, director of the program. "For Binghamton University students, many of whom are beginning to engage with global issues, her work offers a way to connect the macro (global questions) with the micro (individual experience). Oloomi's visit to campus will enrich students' understanding of craft and challenge them to think about the social and political responsibilities of being a writer in a world facing crises and their own roles as global citizens."

Next, creative writing graduate students are welcome to attend Coffee & Conversation with Creative Writing Program Director Tina Chang from 11 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, March 12, in the CEMERS Conference Room (LN 1128) for a chance to pitch creative ideas for the department to pursue in the future. A suggestion box will be available; beverages and lunch boxes will be served to guests.

If open mics are more your thing, join the Poets' Café for its March addition, hosted by Professor Joe Weil from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 19, in Fine Arts' John Arthur Café. Established in 2023, the reading series takes place at one of the many cafes on campus, cultivating community among lovers of poetry and writing in a warm, relaxed atmosphere, welcoming anyone with an artistic inclination to take the stage.

April

Word of Mouth, the fourth annual collaboration with the Music Department, will continue in April. Student writers will work with student composers to create original pieces, which will be presented in the Rosefsky Gallery for all to enjoy. The date and location of performance will be announced at a later date.

In a special collaboration with the Human Rights Institute, the Creative Writing Program will also welcome novelist, poet, essayist, playwright and screenwriter Chris Abani to campus from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, in the Old Champlain Hall Atrium. Abani is the author of the poetry collections Smoking the Bible and Sanctificum, the novels Song for Night and GraceLand, and the essay collection The Face, among many other books. His work has been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, German, Swedish, Romanian, Hebrew, Macedonian, Ukrainian, Portuguese, Dutch, Bosnian and Serbian. Through his TED Talks and other public speaking, Abani is known as an international voice on humanitarianism, art, ethics and shared political responsibility.

May

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To close out the semester, the CW Department will take part in the second annual School of the Arts Showcase from May 7 to 9. Student artists will be invited to present their work in several days of performances, readings, open houses and more, combining the creative talents of departments across campus.

And remember - it's not just Creative Writing students who can benefit from these events, which are free and open to the public. Any student or member of the campus community with an interest in literature and artistic expression should find these events to be stimulating and rewarding-and hopefully a venue to make friends with others who appreciate poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.

"We're living in a post-COVID era when interpersonal connections are integral to learning. While writing skills can be learned in class, the writer must create in living spaces where they can interact, exchange and feel the palpable excitement of their peers and audiences," Chang said. "Gathering communally offers support for student work as well as opportunities to cooperate with artists in other artforms, mimicking real life working relationships where collaboration is the foundation."

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