For the past 30 years, the Writer’s Symposium has brought professional writers to PLNU to inspire, instruct, and uplift members of the university community as well as the broader San Diego community.
Most people know about the headline events in which journalism program director and Writer’s Symposium founder Dr. Dean Nelson interviews the speakers before a large crowd. In addition to the PLNU students, faculty, staff, and community members in the audience are more than 400 high school students Point Loma sponsors to attend. Along with these well-known events, the Writer’s Symposium offers workshops and special opportunities for PLNU students to learn from the authors each year.
“Every year is a little different, but we always do what we can to maximize the opportunities for students with these amazing writers,” said Ashley Reynolds-Montaño, Writer’s Symposium By the Sea event coordinator.
This year, for example, the three writers, Jesmyn Ward, Sandra Cisneros, and Mitch Albom, each offered a free afternoon writing workshop for students. The workshops were moderated by PLNU faculty members. Students in the M.A. in Writing program also had the opportunity to have their writing reviewed by the authors and were able to ask them questions about their craft. Ward also had a special informal gathering with BSU (Black Student Union).
“Getting to workshop with visiting writers is one of the most amazing parts of my PLNU experience,” said M.A. in writing student Emma McCoy. “As someone who wants to write professionally, getting that time with prominent, successful writers is both encouraging and educational on many levels. A compliment from Anthony Doerr is still fueling me a year later, and a short story workshopped with Nick Hornby was later accepted for publication! These workshops with visiting writers are incredibly valuable and will be a bright point in my education after I graduate.”
For the past four years, the Writer’s Symposium has also included film events. This year, students were able to attend a filmmaker panel before the 4th annual Lomaland Student Short Film Festival, which was held the evening of Feb. 24. The film festival featured student short films submitted to Driftwood, PLNU’s creative arts journal, and the work of filmmaker Cy Dodson. The event was held in partnership with the School of Humanities, Arts, and Public Engagement with key contributions from faculty members James Wicks, Ph.D., and Nathan Gibbs, MFA.
