CREATIVE WRITING COURSE SLATED AT HCC

Carroll Susco

Halifax Community College (HCC) will offer Creative Writing 125 for the Spring 2008 semester. Creative Writing Professor Carroll Susco will teach the course that will consist of freewriting, which is timed, uncensored writing, along with exercises meant to spark creativity and teach writing techniques. The majority of the class, however, will be a workshop, a place where students share work and receive feedback from the class and teacher.

“Creative expression invigorates us, defines us—our hopes and desires, our trials and burdens. It gives us a voice and a place from which to speak,” said Susco. She believes that creativity is an essential component to being human, “Creative expression in some form is necessary to my existence. It reminds me I’m alive in an amazing world.”

According to Susco, students will be able to write in any form they want. The course is ideal for those who have written before but not taken a class, from beginners to established writers. Past classes have featured a diverse student population at different levels of writing experience. The class provides an opportunity for writers to discover if they are effectively expressing thoughts and to critique written work. The workshop provides a safe atmosphere and focuses on positive aspects, as well as areas for improvement, of each piece.

Susco earned a Master of Fine Arts/Fiction degree in 1996 from the University of Pittsburgh. She has numerous publications including three in The Sun, an arts magazine with a circulation of about 50,000. She has also published fiction in American Writing, Painted Bride Quarterly, New Jersey Review, The Beloit Fiction Journal, Short Fiction by Women, among others. “Burned,” a film based on her short story titled “Sinking” was chosen as best screenplay at the Athens Film and Video Festival in Athens, Ohio, in 1996. Susco served as director of the Hemingway Reading Series in 1995-1996. She has taught at HCC since 2005.

The class will meet on Wednesdays from 6-8:50 p.m. Cost of attendance is $138.50, plus the cost of the book, which is about $45. Senior citizens can attend for a discounted rate plus the cost of books.

Individuals interested in taking the course can register during early registration on Dec. 6, from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. For more details on early registration, call Cathy Vassor at (252) 536-7225. Prospective students must complete an HCC application and must have completed ENG 111 or submit official transcripts showing credit equivalent. For more information about the class, call Susco at (252) 536-6363 or James McCachren, department chair at (252) 538-4308. For an application, visit www.halifaxcc.edu or stop by the Student Center in Building 300, Room 312.