Welcome Back! September 19, 2013

The UCWbL is BACK!

It’s a new quarter at DePaul, and we just wanted to take a moment and remind you of a few items as we start getting ramped up for autumn!

-Appointments at the UCWbL are for everyone! Whether you are working on a resume, a poem, a research paper, or anything in between, the UCWbL wants to help you with any kind of writing you have.
-Appointments at the UCWbL aren’t just for struggling writers. We are happy to help even writers who feel confident in their work. It always helps to get another pair of eyes on a piece!
-Appointments at the UCWbL are for creative writers too! Believe me, there are so many people here who would love to get their hands on a poem, short story, or memoir!
-Get involved at the UCWbL! There are so many great opportunities for everyone at the UCWbL. Join a writing group, attend a Walk and Talk with the collaborative for multilingual writing and research, and check out Scrawl Radio every Friday starting next week! Really, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

If you have any questions about the UCWbL please visit depaul.edu/writing or leave a comment here! If you’re new, welcome to DePaul, and if you’re coming back, we are glad to see you again. You look great today, everyone.

“Does poetry need paper?”: Writing Advice from Don DeLillo October 19, 2012

This week, the Chicago Public Library Foundation awarded novelist Don DeLillo the Carl Sandburg Literary Award, and to mark the occasion, DeLillo appeared at the downtown Harold Washington Library last night to read and discuss his latest work, The Angel Esmeralda, a collection of short stories.  It was an illuminating discussion.  Donna Seaman, the moderator, asked DeLillo about his influences and themes, but there were also many insights into DeLillo’s process as a writer.

More Banned Books Week Reflections: Ban Book Banning

The first week of October is one of my favorites. I love the coming of fall, Halloween, and pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks. I also love the idea of an entire week dedicated to celebrating reading–and not just any reading, but the reading of banned books. I’ve never been much of a rebel, but this week is definitely one that even makes me want to break the rules.

Reading, Writing, FUN! October 18, 2012

Ever since I was little I have loved to read. Books were my television. I would imagine myself as one of the characters in the book, or sometimes I would make up a new character. Often times I would change the actions different characters would take, sometimes I would even change the ending of the story. Books allowed me to escape into a creative part of my mind that did not otherwise exist.

The Unpaid Internship – Cruel and Unusual or Necessary Evil? October 16, 2012

Unfairness, thy name is unpaid internship. During one conversation appointment this week, I fell into something of a difficulty: having to explain why I had done so many unpaid internships. My conversation partner, a finance graduate student, had already had a paid internship with an ample (if not exactly generous) stipend, and thought it was strange when I said I’d never had a paid internship. In the past four years, I’ve worked for several companies in several roles, but always unpaid and always with a paying retail or office job on the side so I wouldn’t run my bank account into the ground. I’ve spoken with other students in humanities or writing programs over the past few years and many of them reported similar experiences (with the exception of those who only did unpaid internships and let the budgetary chips fall where they may). I’m willing to bet that most of our readers in LA&S can relate, and most science or business students are thinking I’m crazy for accepting unpaid work. For me, the question becomes: why does the unpaid internship seem to be only the plague of humanities or writing-based fields? Does it actually do anything, other than drain our bank accounts? And what can we do to change it?

Banned Books: Thinking Outside the Our Borders October 12, 2012

Most of us have heard  by now of the many books that Americans have tried to get banned—and have even succeeded in banning—over the years.  Some of us even know of books that have been banned simultaneously in the U.S. and in other countries, such as Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita.  However, we are just one country in this giant world, and it seldom occurs to us to think of the writers and works being censored and banned across the globe.

Eat, Breathe, Write October 11, 2012

I write because I have to. This isn’t because I’m in school and I am assigned to. I write because it is the best way I know to express myself. I write because it is what I love to do. I write because it is my life.

Five Great Autumn Reads (Or Re-Reads) October 9, 2012

Now that it’s October, I know I want to start reading some books that are well suited to sitting with a ratty old blanket and a bottomless pumpkin spice latte. Here are five picks, new and old, that make me think of autumn reading.

Rage Against the Machine: How Typing Shapes Writing October 3, 2012

Okay, okay, I know: I need to chill out about typewriters.  But I’m really enjoying the book by Friedrich Kittler that I mentioned last week, Gramaphone, Film, Typewriter.  In particular I want to look at this question that Kittler raises many times: how does the way we write affect what we write?

Scrawl Season 5 Episode 2: (Radio Edit) October 2, 2012

Robert sits down with Heather Jagman, DePaul University’s Coordinator of Library Instruction, to talk about the importance of Banned Books Week.  Heather talks about her experience in grade school and not having a public library in her town and how that motivated her interest in library science.

 

We discuss book banning in public institutions such as schools and libraries, and Heather gives us some background on the origins of Banned Books Week.

 

Also, Robert gives us the Top 10 list of challenged books of 2011.

 

Original Air Date:  9-28-2012

(Due to technical difficulties, we are unable to post the audio from this episode.)