Glass Mountain, UH’s undergraduate literary journal, hosted a Write-A-Thon to raise funds for the Boldface Conference for New and Emerging Writers on 7 November 2014. Write-a-thon participants asked for donations from sponsors as they devoted part or all of the day to writing.
Lulu Moore, a sophomore English major with a Creative Writing focus, had two sponsors for the day and was using the time to work on a psychology project. “I came to work on a research paper, but I also wanted to hang out with people I know and talk with my teachers about what I was currently working on.”
The day-long event gave students time to write their own projects as well as participate in contests for Haiku, NANO Fiction, Ekphrastic poetry, and Slam Poetry. Students wrote their material during and then presented their work to judges, which included UH faculty and graduate students, before a winner as announced. The contest winners, each receiving a gift donated by faculty and local business, were Dmitriy Borovykh, Haiku; Tyler Darnell, NANO Fiction; Kenan Ince, Ekphrastic; and Lulu Moore, Slam Poetry.
And while the activities focus on creative writing, Audrey Colombe, faculty advisor for Boldface, added that the Write-a-thon is a space for any one, from any major. “In the past, we’ve had people who had taken a creative writing class but who were majoring in Mathematics or Computer Science. Anyone with a writing project is welcome to come eat, write, and laugh.”
Joining the many undergraduates were UH graduate students who used the time to not only write, but grade their student papers. Jeni MacFarlard, a graduate student in Creative Writing, was using the time to catch-up on some grading. “I needed a quiet space, a space that would require me to work so that I could not only write but finish grading. Being around other people helps keep me going.”
When the Write-a-thon ended at 5 PM, Glass Mountain had raised $8,000 for Boldface, and donations will continue to be open until the conference in May. As of this printing, they have raised nearly $10,000. Anyone interested in Glass Mountain can find out more on their website: http://www.glassmountainmag.com/
The faculty and students of Glass Mountain would like to give special thanks to the generosity and support of Randi Faust of the Glass Mountain Board, the Oppenheimer Foundation, Inprint, Aladdin, Central Market, Brasil, The Nook, the Menil Bistro, and the UH English Department.
