As many teachers, students, and parents wrap up another school year, the Foothills Writers Guild has been revving up for its busiest part of the year by getting more intentionally involved and giving back – it’s all about investing in the next generation of writers and art.
It began in January, National Mentoring Month, when our guild announced a plan to formalize mentoring. The plan would match longer-term members with new members to help them learn about our guild’s benefits, answer their questions, and share resources in order to more effectively navigate their writing journeys. Then in early spring several members began visiting District Five elementary schools and reading poetry to students.
During March, member Bren McClain visited her Alma Mater, Westside High School, to speak with two English classes about writing. And on March 28th, four members gave poetry and art presentations to Centerville Elementary School during their Arts Day celebration.
Then came April – Poetry Month – and the floodgates opened:
- Our group of Pegasus Poets received daily prompts as part of a challenge from President Angela Lowe to write a poem a day for all thirty days of April.
- Guild members were challenged to enter all categories in our spring writing contest by its deadline, April 18th. A record 17 members submitted a record 72 entries.
- Eleven members entered the Anderson County Library’s 11th annual poetry contest.
- Several members entered other national or regional poetry contests.
- Our annual student writing scholarships were presented to faculty-selected English students from Anderson University, Tri-County Technical College, Westside High School, and TL Hanna High School. These scholarship packages include guild memberships through 2025 for the recipients and their sponsoring teachers.
Some say artificial intelligence will soon take the place of writers, wait staff at restaurants, product assembly, artists, etc. I’m not buying that. And neither does any consumer of products and services in which creativity and true craftsmanship and judgement are involved. Audiences around the world await entertainment by new voices and songs on stages with sophisticated lighting and sound by creative engineers. Every red carpet awaits fresh fashion and design ideas. Galleries await novel paintings and sculptures.
Publishers of magazines and books eagerly await stories, articles, plays, and poems by each new generation of creatives who MUST write what is theirs, and theirs alone, to write. And like their teachers, we want to play a significant role in their journey by offering a place to gather and network with like-minded others.