LitPubCrawl 2016

On Tuesday, April 12, I had the pleasure to attend the Literary Publishing Crawl organized by the English Department, Wilkinson College, and Leatherby Libraries. The event took place on the fourth floor of Beckman Hall and featured writers Gordon McAlpine, Ryan Gattis, Janna Levin, and Pico Iyer. The discussions were moderated by Professor Jim Blaylock.

As a creative writing student and emerging writer, I am constantly on the prowl for opportunities where I can listen to other writers. I love to learn how they found success in their writing and ask questions. I took home a little something from each of the four writers that presented at LitPubCrawl.

Gordon McAlpine was the first writer to present. He talked a lot about the publishing industry and the importance of finding an agent. He gave some good advice about writing query letters, too. He talked about writing what you know vs. writing to discover what you know, which was interesting because it had been a topic we discussed in Short Stories in class that day. Ultimately, McAlpine seemed to enjoy the idea of writing to discover: "When you find out that you are the creature of the book, it can be bizarre."

The second writer was Chapman alumnus Ryan Gattis. Ryan's most recent book involved a lot of research in Los Angeles, meeting with former gang members and getting a sense of the streets in LA. He talked a lot about the importance of research, and how that in publishing, there has been a lot of success in niche markets with smaller, independent presses. Ryan's story about meeting with former gang members was very interesting.

Janna Levin was the third writer to present, and I think she really captivated all of us when she started to talk about black holes and the mysteries of the universe. An astrophysicist, Levin's take on writing was very interesting because she mixes these elements of big science into her writing, sometimes nonfiction, sometimes fiction. Levin talked to us a lot about what happens when two black holes collide, and how the sound of this event occurring was recently recorded in February. Her passion was so inspiring, and what I took away from her speech was that a writer really needs to focus on a project at hand -- that project needs to be all that you are thinking about so you can marinate in it.

Finally, Pico Iyer spoke last, and judging by my page and a half of notes, I think he made the biggest impression on me. The way he spoke was captivating, and everything that came out of his mouth sounded seemingly profound. Iyer reminded me a lot like myself; he stated that for him, the greatest adventure comes at the desk, in the task of writing, and that everything else after (including publication) is a tax and a disappointment. How curious! Iyer spoke about the benefits of being an English major, and how this taught him to read the world through literary eyes. He, too, spoke about writing as an act of discovery, and advised all the young writers to write, write, write!

This event was super awesome, and I love that Chapman holds things like this for their English & Creative Writing students. Small things like this really go a long way to support students in their endeavors and dreams. Sometimes, when I think about my student loan debt, I wonder if I made the right choice to come to a private school all the way across the country to study something like writing. But then, events like this take place, and I'm reminded of all the places I've went and the things I've done since being at Chapman, and I am never disappointed in my choice.

After all, like Pico Iyer said in his talk, most of his banker and lawyer friends tell him they secretly wanted to be writers. We're onto the right thing. We're the ones who are brave enough to do it, giving into the unreasonable imagination within ourselves.