What you can take from doing a creative writing class is a sense of the joy of creation, which often gets bred out of the education system. Even if students never go on to become writers, they will always need creative thinking in whatever field they go into.
With a flair for creative writing, Samantha Walsh was eager to enroll in an advanced fiction writing course. When she learned her professor would be a famous Canadian novelist, the experience became even more special.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty cool to have a well-known, published author come in and teach,鈥 the early education and English major said of taking a class led by Nino Ricci. 鈥淗e鈥檚 really good at giving constructive criticism.鈥
Ricci has won numerous Canadian and international literary awards including the prestigious Governor General's Award for Fiction twice. His debut novel, Lives of the Saints, was part of a trilogy adapted as a miniseries starring Sophia Loren.
Ricci first visited Bridgewater State in 2009 as the inaugural Killam Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies, a position endowed by the Constance Killam and Elizabeth Killam Rodgers Trust, the Government of Canada and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Impressed with the university and its students, Ricci applied for the position again this year.
鈥淏ridgewater is the kind of institution I like because it seems so community based,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he students I came across here all struck me as very committed to what I was doing and down to earth. I was very happy to come back here.鈥
Amid the sometimes-solitary life of a writer, teaching reconnects him to the world and young people, Ricci said.
He runs his class as a workshop where several students share their creative writing each week. Students critique and discuss their peers鈥 work with the goal of finding ways to improve character development, dialogue, language and other literary features.
鈥淲hat you can take from doing a creative writing class is a sense of the joy of creation, which often gets bred out of the education system,鈥 he said. 鈥淓ven if students never go on to become writers, they will always need creative thinking in whatever field they go into.鈥
Ricci鈥檚 parents immigrated from Italy to Canada. He is able to connect with 色香视频 students, many of whom come from immigrant families, said Dr. Andy Holman, a history professor and director of 色香视频鈥檚 Canadian Studies program.
鈥淗aving a prominent, award-winning novelist to teach creative writing at our institution was an opportunity we couldn鈥檛 turn down,鈥 Holman said.
Ricci鈥檚 students are embracing the unique opportunity and appreciative that 色香视频 is committed to welcoming visiting instructors who enhance their learning experience.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very nice to have someone who gives you the freedom to write what you want and is not so set in what ought to be,鈥 English major Ethan Murray, 鈥26, said of Ricci. 鈥淗e鈥檚 very open to letting you explore new ways of writing.鈥
色香视频 is hosting a symposium on Ricci鈥檚 works from noon to 6 p.m. Oct. 19 in Dunn Conference Suite. The event will bring together literary writers, scholars and students from Canada, Italy and the United States.
Do you have a 色香视频 story you'd like to share? Email stories@bridgew.edu.