Creative Writing and Studio Art capstone celebration

On April 30 senior creative writing and studio art majors will have a joint event to celebrate their capstone projects, in events respectively titled Postscript and Flamin’ Estrogen: Reign of Fire.

This is not the first time that the arts have collaborated to celebrate student works across the arts.

Dr. Margot Singer, Director of Creative Writing and the Eisner Center, spoke on the importance of this event, especially now. “Being in the Eisner Center (in Burke Recital Hall for the reading, in the Museum for the senior studio art show) reminds us of the importance of the arts—which include the visual arts, the performing arts, and the literary arts—to a liberal education and to Denison. It has been a long year and we’re hoping this will bring a small part of the community together in person and virtually to showcase our majors’ capstone projects and success.”

Flamin’ Estrogen: Reign of Fire is a culmination of studio art practice as artists at Denison. As a group of nine art students from across the US and the world, these seniors have brought different perspectives to the table and in this show, and their art exists as they do in the community. The title of the exhibition points to not only shared experience as women, but also to the power they hold as artists to look at, respond to, and change the world.

Postscript is a fitting title for the creative writing event, as a culmination of the past four years, building off of the name, Prologue, Denison’s first-year writing journal.

One creative writing senior whose works will be featured is Amber Wardzala, or Anishinaabe from White Earth Nation, who grew up in rural Wisconsin. She is involved in several different organizations and extremely active on campus as co-captain of the Women’s Fencing Team, a member of Mortar Board, Sigma Tau Delta, Phi Beta Kappa, a Licking County Humane Society volunteer, and the fencing team representative for Denison Athletes for Sexual Respect (DASR). We had a chance to learn more about her and what drew her to the creative writing program.

What drew you to the creative writing program?

I was drawn to the creative writing program because I’ve always loved storytelling. The oral tradition was a significant part of my childhood as an Indigenous person, and I knew going into college that I wanted to continue that tradition of storytelling. The Denison English department faculty were warm and welcoming, and they encouraged my growth as both a person and a writer, offering me various opportunities such as working as a Teaching Assistant for the Reynolds Young Writers program. The faculty also introduced me to slipstream fiction, and I found myself gravitating toward that style because it allows me to channel the surreal that is a familiar element of the Native stories I grew up hearing.

Who is your favorite professor?

My favorite professor is, without a doubt, Dr. Grandbois. I’ve had the pleasure of working with him as a professor, an academic advisor, and a coach. He goes above and beyond in everything he does, and his passion (for both writing and fencing) is infectious.

Fun fact about yourself?

I am also a Jingle Dress Dancer.

Lastly, what are your plans after Denison?

I am going to be attending graduate school at Arizona State University for my MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction).

“Postscript” will showcase senior creative writing students reading short pieces of poetry and prose excerpted from their year-long capstone writing projects. The reading will be live-streamed on YouTube starting at 4:30 p.m

The opening of “Flamin’ Estrogen: Reign of Fire,” the studio art senior show, will follow the reading. From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the Denison Museum will welcome members of the Denison community to view the exhibition in small/socially distanced groups. The senior show will be on display in the Museum through Friday, May 21.