Writers and Readers brings together those who are interested in reading literature and those who would like to write creatively. Meetings take place on selected Fridays and are open to any interested student. You can join either series or participate in both.
In the Literature Group, we read a selection of an author’s work in advance of the meeting, and then respond by discussing questions raised by the author, by pointing out a particular skill or aesthetic quality in the work, or by writing a story, poem, or essay that responds to a theme or technique found in that selection. This semester we will be looking at Virgil's Aeneid.
Writers' Group reads and provides constructive feedback on original submissions by group members. Writing by group members is circulated one week before the group meets.
For more informoation and meeting times, see the CTW schedule.
Past Events
The Work of T.S. Eliot, Pre- and Post- Conversion
Our first topic of the semester was selected poems of T. S. Eliot, before and after conversion. Here are the links:
Ash Wednesday and Magi were both written after Eliot’s conversion, and Love Song and Hollow Men were both written before his conversion. Does Eliot’s conversion change how or what he writes? What kinds of issues is he getting at in this work? How does he marry ideas and expression? What do you learn from him about writing? About words? Could you write a poem, short fiction, an essay or something else in response?
Discussion Summary
Hans Decker started us off by asking how Christian convictions influence the form of literature; he asked us to discuss how the form of T.S. Eliot's poetry after conversion differed from the pre-conversion form.
We listened to an audio recording of Eliot's sonorous reading of "Hollow Men" (pre-conversion) and "Journey of the Magi" (post conversion). We noticed that "Journey of the Magi" is more of a narrative than is typical for Eliot. Other post-conversion work, such as "Ash Wednesday," conveys an intensity of darkness and fragmentation - through references to classic works, images, bits of conversations - also found in the pre-conversion work, but post-conversion there is a steady ray of light, or hope, woven through the poems. In the post-conversion poems, the poet is not emotional or passionate about the light, but the light is present nonetheless. Eliot is ruthlessly honest about the darkness, but post-conversion he includes the light.
Todd compared Eliot's writing to the work of visual artist Makoto Fujimura. Fujimura is a painter in New York City who is also a PCA ruling elder and founder of IAM (International Arts Movement), a ministry for Christian artists. He writes and lectures on the intersection of faith and art, and some of his work has grown out of his scholastic background in art, such as his 2004 exhibit based on T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets" , listed under "Works" then, "Four Quartets".
The fragmentation in both pre- and post-conversion reminded Erik of the work of Lupe Fiasco, a rap artist whose work we will examine at the next meeting. Tabby pointed out the disembodied eyes of the "Hollow Men" (pre-conversion), and we looked at how eyes worked as a metaphor in the poem. Leslie responded to Eliot by discussing how "tradition and the Individual Talent" is a key to understanding Eliot's work. She also shared "The Poet's Mind," a poem in which she attempted to imitate how Eliot conveys the hope of Christ undergirding and making sense of the fragments in his post-conversion work.
Writers' Group reads submissions by group members
