Mary Fons:

Mary was probably the most open about her life and feelings out of everyone I saw at Writers Week. She wasn’t afraid to express herself completely and show emotions to everyone in the auditorium that many of us hold back in front of a few people. At first I didn’t understand her paper world poem but by the end of it I followed it and it all tied together perfectly. At that point I decided that she was interesting to listen to and I valued her thoughts. I really related to her philosophy on writing when she was talking about her fathers’ day poem. She said that you can write a lot but still not say what you want to say. This happens to me often as well as with many others and this helped me connect with her and her opinions. Also, she said that, that is the reason that you have to keep writing. You have to write until you say what you need to say and I really like that viewpoint.

Dr. Small and Emily Hill’s Father:

At first I didn’t know what to expect out of these two presenters because neither of them are writers and I didn’t know how they connected to the event. I soon realized that they were performing to show that you don’t have to be a professional writer or even be that great at writing to share your stories and experiences with others. It was nice to see another side to Dr. Small and hear what life is like for her. Her stories about her farm were very interesting and diverse and I like how they were in the format of letters. Emily Hill’s father was also a very relatable person. He was just an average guy sharing some writing that he came up with. This actually made it more interesting because a lot of the things he spoke about were very easy to connect with your own experiences.

Jonathan Eig:

I was surprised that I enjoyed listening to Jonathan Eig because his I can’t really relate to his topics. When he started talking I was completely drawn in because he was so laid back yet excited about the information he was giving us. He put so much time and effort into these books that you can’t help but be interested in what inspired him. He kept saying how when he was writing these books he always looked deeper for the real story. He did succeed with this because he proved many movies with Al Capone and many rumors of Lou Gherig and Jackie Robinson wrong. I liked how he didn’t just write a sports story about Lou Gherig or Jackie Robinson, he really searched deep into their lives to learn about their personalities and behind the scenes experiences. This way his stories interest a more diverse audience and keep the reader interested.

Students:

Hearing my fellow peers present their personal writing during Writers’ Week inspires me to write and present a piece of my own. I admire their courage for sharing and presenting in front of everyone. I liked Christine Veit’s story because it made me think of my own dogs at home, which really touched me. I enjoyed listening to Emily Hoadley’s stories about the impatience of people in general. It was interesting because it makes you realize that those things actually do happen and can be viewed from a comical instead of irritated standpoint. I give all of these presenters props because they were brave enough to present their writing and not many others can do that.

Mr. Romano/Brewner/Anderson:

I was interested to listen to these teachers because it seems like English teachers always tell you how to write, but you never get to see or hear their own writing. Mr. Romano’s piece was fun to listen to because it had an interesting story plot and his accent that he used definitely helped keep the audience interested. Mr. Anderson’s poems were touching and each had great meaning behind each of them. He really expressed a lot of his feelings into them and was very descriptive, especially in his winter poem. I enjoyed Mr. Brewner’s story because I agree with the message that was behind it, that everything happens for a reason.

Writers Week this year was definitely more memorable than last year. Last year's Writers Week feels like a blur to me but I have a feeling that this year's stories and authors are going to stick with me. I saw so many inspiring and influential writers, professionals and students. It actually did inspire me to express myself more with my writing. It motivated me to start thinking about sharing more of what I write with others.