In an era filled with instant information, short form content and rapid communication, Weber State University’s Wasatch Writers Center creates a slow-paced community, showcasing the relevance of literature today.
Abraham Smith, an associate professor of English and co-director of creative writing at Weber said, “We create community on campus and off campus in our many kinds of programming. That’s one thing in a digital time when we feel connected, but simultaneously disconnected, for people to come together, feel a little awkward and nervous, but bond over stories, and bond over rhythms, and bond over images.”
Smith reiterates the goal of the Wasatch Writers Center’s community is to help students get involved and connected.
“If you’re feeling lonely, disconnected and somehow isolated in this digitally driven world, just understand the community happens because each one of us participates in it and helps to make it happen,” Smith said.
Through many programs and events, the Writers Center helps create bonds in the Weber community.
Smith said, “Our students, our graduate students and our faculty go into the schools and share the good news of the creative life with local students around the area.”
Technology and literature should not be seen as contradictory. They can be very powerful tools when used together. Smith said, “There’s really not some broad gulf between the digital world … and a slow read.”
Kyra Hudson, a senior instructor of English at Weber said, “There’s so much creativity out there now. You know, flash fiction, online book groups. You can find all those resources online, poetry, chat books, all that stuff. So the two go hand in hand.”
Literature can utilize technology to help it reach new audiences, but it can also inspire online creations.
“People who are doing the things that you love inside of the digital world are not just creating that out of thin air. They’ve been moved by something they’ve read, they’ve been moved by something they’ve heard. They’ve been moved and then go on to move you,” Smith said.
Literature is influential in all cultures and can bridge differences because of the shared stories and empathy that literature creates.
“We engage in what community helps us toward: finding common ground, which is something that we all yearn for more of in our world,” Smith said.
Hudson said, “I think that archetypal, the idea that we basically share a lot of cultural similarities. The fairy tales, folk tales, and a lot of the myths that we tell are very much the same, and yet different culturally. So it’s a great way to connect.”
Reading and listening to literature can inspire imagination in anyone according to Smith.
“Coming out to one of our events or stopping by the open mic, when you hear people wield their imagination before your very eyes and ears, it changes you,” Smith said.
