ASU English creates 'write' place for National Day on Writing

October 20, 2010

You are a writer. You may not think of yourself that way, but if you text, IM, tweet or blog – you write. <separator></separator> On Oct. 20, Arizona State University will participate in National Day on Writing events with a “Write-In” to encourage all members of the university community to see themselves as writers. <separator></separator> A site by the Cady Mall Fountain on ASU’s Tempe campus will serve as the “write” place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (In case of heavy rain, the event will be moved into the lobby of the Language and Literature (LL) Building on the Tempe campus.) ASU students, faculty, staff and visitors can leave their written thoughts on the theme of “Writing Takes Place,” which considers how place(s) inspire writing. Participants will find the tools necessary – notepads, markers, paper, and pens – at this multi-media booth staffed by staff and faculty from the English department’s writing programs in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Staff from the ASU Student Success Writing Center will be on hand to encourage participants to create their own six-word autobiographies, which will be displayed later in its offices in UASB 140. <separator></separator> The National Day on Writing was created in 2009 by the National Council of Teachers of English and resolved by the U.S. Senate. It aims to promote writing of all kinds, raising individual awareness of the simple yet overlooked importance of writing in our daily lives. <separator></separator> Writing produced from Day on Writing events throughout the country will be uploaded to the NCTE National Gallery of Writing at <a href="http://galleryofwriting.org">http://galleryofwriting.org</a>. According to NCTE, the gallery is “a virtual space – a website – where people who perhaps have never thought of themselves as writers – mothers, bus drivers, fathers, veterans, nurses, firefighters, sanitation workers, stockbrokers – select and post writing that is important to them.” <separator></separator> In preparation for the Oct. 20 event, first-year teaching assistants in the English department asked their ENG 101 students to write papers analyzing places around ASU. Several of these papers as well as the writing produced during the event at ASU will be on display through the ASU Writing Programs page on the National Writing Gallery site. <separator></separator> For more information contact Katherine Heenan at <a href="mailto:K.Heenan@asu.edu">K.Heenan@asu.edu</a> or 480-965-3908.<separator></separator> Written by <a href="mailto:SARAH.FEDIRKA@asu.edu">Sarah Fedirka</a> and <a href="mailto:Lisa.Ricker@asu.edu">Lisa Ricker</a>.<separator></separator> MEDIA CONTACT Carol Hughes, <a href="mailto:carol.hughes@asu.edu">carol.hughes@asu.edu</a> 480-965-6375 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

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