Resources for Writers
Writing Center, 217 Hinsdale Hall; 330-569-5397
Joyce Dyer, Director of Writing
Writing is something everyone at Hiram College takes seriously. Almost every course incorporates writing. The Hiram College Writing Center exists to support the school’s comprehensive commitment to writing. Students in all courses are encouraged to bring papers to the Writing Center at any stage in the writing process for feedback.
Hiram was one of the first small liberal arts schools in the nation to begin a Writing Across the Curriculum program, a program designed to teach writing in all departments. The school has been faithful to this philosophy and to the importance of its implementation for over thirty years. Faculty believe that teaching students how to write in every discipline produces better thinkers, more active learners, and more agile scholars.
Twenty-five writing assistants work in the Writing Center to help Hiram students with papers and writing assignments. Students are nominated to become writing assistants at the end of their first year and train for this position during the fall of their sophomore year. The Center is open throughout the week, with generous afternoon and evening hours almost every day.
The Center offers information, services, receptions for student and faculty authors, workshops, and other programs—in addition to individual conferences. Known throughout Ohio for its Festival of Regional Writers (now in its twelfth year), Hiram College brings outstanding writers to campus each year to work with students. The Festival has hosted writers like Dana Gioia, Sarah Willis, Marilou Awiakta, Mark Winegardner, Mary Doria Russell, Mary E. Weems, Maggie Anderson, James Neff, Scott Russell Sanders, Rita Dove, Ian Frazier, Lee K. Abbott, Abby Frucht, and Mary Swander. Authors often stay at Hiram for weeklong residencies, talking with students and working with their manuscripts.
Hiram students have numerous opportunities to gain recognition for their writing talent. The Ralph and Marion G. Kroehle Award in Creative Nonfiction complements Hiram’s unique commitment to the infinite variety of nonfiction. A consortium of regional colleges called the ECC (East Central Colleges) has sponsored an annual literary competition for over ten years, and Hiram writers frequently place in both poetry and fiction. The Barbara Thompson and Vachel Lindsay awards recognize accomplishments in short fiction and poetry. The Hiram Arts Magazine is a top-quality publication that accepts submissions from all students, and Hiram’s bi-weekly newspaper, The Advance, has received national honors and prizes for fine journalistic writing.
A first year student at Hiram, reviewing her papers, said, “I had heard that Hiram was a big writing school, but never thought much about what that would mean. Now, I understand that the writing here is truly all encompassing. There is no escaping it. I did not intend on avoiding it, but did not plan on honing it as my craft. Now, I ask myself what I am writing, why I am writing, and how it can be better said. In short, I care.”
Many seniors, having gone through four years of writing instruction at Hiram College, have expressed their enthusiasm for the program:
"I came to Hiram armed with my score of ‘5’ on the A.P. English exam, which I thought authenticated my status as a Good Writer. I was seventeen. Imagine my chagrin when, as a sophomore, I was recruited to join Hiram’s team of writing assistants—only to learn on the first day of class that the A.P. English test didn’t mean anything here; I was playing in a whole new league.” --Joanna Schroeder
“I’ve learned to literally cut up papers, spread them on the floor, and rearrange them to find the architecture that at times is seamless and refined.” --Amanda Cobes
“I am sure that even if I spend the next year in a factory working for graduate school tuition writing will exist in my private life. I will write. I cannot help it. It is a part of me.” --Josh Bosley
“As I look forward to graduation in May, I now realize that I don’t want to stop perfecting this craft that makes my flesh tingle.” --Melodi DeLong-Howard