Writers Unite: Creative Writing Club at PVCC

Writers gather at PVCC’s Writing Center classroom M627 located in the Writing Center, every other Monday at 3 p.m.

For over ten years, Creative Writing Club, also known as Writers Unite, has been active in the PVCC community. “We host the Fall Line, the 3-Minute Horror Story contest, the National Day on Writing Event, and we bring in guest speakers periodically,” said Annette Cashatt, Co-president of the club.

Creative Writing Club is “an informal, supportive environment for learning about experiencing and creating contemporary creative writing-poetry, fiction and non-fiction,” according to PVCC’s website.

All meetings are open to PVCC students who would like to join. The club is advised by Professor of English Jennifer A. Koster. Koster holds an MFA in creative writing and is also the coordinator for the Writing Center.

Co-presidents Annette Cashatt and Russell Wright lead the meetings. Cashatt described a typical meeting for Writers Unite: “Often there are a few prompts that members can choose to use if they desire to and we spend about 10-15 minutes writing. Then people may read their writing aloud if they like. Next, we typically discuss either club related tasks or general topics about writing.”

Something unique about Creative Writing Club is that it runs the school’s literary magazine, The Fall Line. The Fall Line was introduced to Piedmont six years ago and releases an issue once a year every April. It may be confusing to some why a magazine released in April is called The Fall Line. The name is geographical term meaning “a narrow zone that marks the geological boundary between an upland region and a plain, distinguished by the occurrence of falls and rapids where rivers and streams cross it,” according to the Spring 2015 issue.

The magazine receives quite a few submissions. “On average, 40 entries, and we take about one-third of those–thus far,” said Koster. Writers’ work accepted in The Fall Line will go to print and online. “We print 350 copies per year, and the college has a pdf of each issue on the PVCC website under ‘Publications,’” said Koster.

Writers Unite allows writers to cultivate their skills. “I believe being able to speak to other people about ideas and issues pertinent to writing allows me to grow in my own understanding of the craft. Just taking the time out to simply write a little bit helps me grow,” said Cashatt.

Recently, co-president of Writers Unite, Russell Wright, self-published a novel, Shadow Strike Birth of a Vigilante. He says that Creative Writing Club helped him with his novel. “Participating in the creative writing club helped make me a better writer and that is reflected in my novel. Some the members of the club graciously read a sample chapter from the book and gave me useful feedback,” said Wright.

The next club meeting will be held Monday Dec. 7 at 3 p.m.