My husband is an audiophile. Perhaps you know the type, always talking about amplifiers, speakers, and different kinds of music. Most of the time I am not as interested in these things as he is, but occasionally he will pull me into his ‘listening room’ and have me audition a new speaker set-up, ask if I can hear the sonic difference between one wire connecting a piece of equipment and another, or listen to a new CD he bought. Most of the time this is lost on me, but every once in a while I hear something new and interesting – something that moves me. When this new and interesting thing is equipment, my first reaction is to ask him how much it costs. When the new and interesting thing is the music, I quickly find a way to add it to the collection of music I play in my computer at work or in the car. Recently, when I was supposed to be listening for an improved “digital to analog converter” in his CD player – whatever that is – I was struck by the peaceful beauty of the music that my husband was playing and discovered that I liked Miles Davis. I was surprised because I was reasonably certain I had never found jazz to be so beautiful as the music on that CD. Under the pretext of listening for that “digital to analog converter,” I listened to Davis’s In a Silent Way twice. Although not nearly so beautiful for me, I listened to Kind of Blue next and found I enjoyed it too. I am still working on understanding Davis’s Bitches Brew CD, and suspect I may never get to the point where I fully appreciate all of Miles Davis’s various experiments in music. Still, I did not know I appreciated any of his music until recently; now I have expanded my musical horizons to include at least some of his work. More importantly, however, I learned to appreciate the sometimes very accidental discovery of possibilities available to me if I only reach out and gave things a chance a bit more often.

I thought about this discovery as I sat down to write this month’s notes and wondered how much I might add to my horizons if I tried to attend more of the events listed in the calendar section of The Figure in the Carpet. I decided to makea New Year’s resolution to stop thinking I know what I like and to pull my husband and myself out to events on the calendar neither of us is sure we are interested in. I would like to invite every reader to think about treating the calendar in a similar way, as an opportunity for an unexpected discovery. I do not suggest this as merely a show of support for all the organizations and people in our literary community that offer us their heartfelt interests and best efforts, although I would not be embarrassed to do so. We are lucky to have a community with the range of literary events listed in this calendar, and should certainly treasure it and support it. I suggest this, however, as a chance to challenge the comfortable assumptions of what we are interested in and what we are not interested in. Occasionally we all need some wide-eyed enthusiast to emerge from the “listening room” and pull us into a venue for a new experience. Just as I am still not sure, despite my husband’s best efforts, what difference the improved ‘digital to analog converter’ makes to the music I hear, we may not fully appreciate or understand everything we try. I think, however, we are all richer in some way for trying. So, if you look very closely at The Figure in the Carpet this month, you may be able to make out that wide-eyed invitation to try something new – go on, give it a listen. You never know what you may discover.

Speaking of invitations, please note two, new IWC events for this spring: A Conference on the Korean War organized in conjunction with the Missouri Historical Society in May, and the monthly Faculty Luncheon Series: Wit and Wisdom at Washington University in St Louis (Page 4). Hope to see you at both these events!

Jian Leng, Assistant Director, IWC

In 1995, I decided to return to school to study creative writing. The only serious option was a university classroom. I took several fiction classes at Washington University’s night school and Summer Writer’s Institute. I then applied to and was admitted into the new Master of Fine Arts program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. While the courses that led me to the MFA program were all extremely worthwhile, at the time I was enrolled in them, I had no interest in a degree or even a semester-long commitment. I wanted to write, to study under the guidance of an experienced writer, and to find a community of writers.

Therein, I decided, was the unfilled niche. Surely there were others like me. So, combining my twenty-year background in public relations with my writing contacts, in 1997, I launched the St. Louis Writer’s Workshop. My vision: to enhance and expand the local writing community by offering university-caliber workshops in a casual, non-university setting.

Perhaps the greatest strength of the St. Louis Writer’s Workshop is the fact that our staff roster contains some of the most talented, published, award-winning writers in Metropolitan St. Louis. We accept students based on the quality of their manuscript submissions and on their willingness to learn. Workshops include Beginning Fiction, Works in Progress, and Advanced Novel; genre fiction including Writing for Children, Crime Writing and Science Fiction; Creative Non-Fiction; Writing for Teens (offered each summer); Scriptwriting; Poetry, and Spiritual Writing. We hold three sessions a year—fall, winter/spring and summer, and workshops run six, eight, or ten weeks, meeting two hours one night a week in locations throughout the area. An Open Mike Night showcasing student work culminates each session.
The workshops have spawned a number of ongoing groups. One Mystery Writing workshop from 1998 still “meets” regularly online. A Writing for Children workshop grew into an ongoing writing group, as did a Writing the Woman’s Way workshop. One essay class, taught by Catherine Rankovic, provided the genesis for an essay collection, Guilty Pleasures, which will be published this spring. A growing number of students continue to study with their instructor for individualized editing services once the workshop is completed; others go on to apply to MFA programs.

“When I retired, I knew I wanted to write my memoirs but, also, I knew that I needed help, criticism, and motivation. The St. Louis Writer’s Workshop has provided all three,” Sandy MacLean said when I asked him about his experience at the STLWW. Another workshop participant, Patti Smith Jackson, said, “I am not overstating the case when I say that St. Louis Writer’s Workshop changed my life.”

This year, we’re expanding to include a four-part publishing seminar (late spring), a workshop tailored specifically to post-MFA grads (fall), a workshop for students putting together MFA admission portfolios (fall), and a college-admission essay course (summer). I welcome feedback, too, if there are unmet writing interests. St. Louis Writer’s Workshop is flexible and responsive.

It has been a source of tremendous satisfaction to see the extensive number of repeat students and to know that our community becomes ever more cohesive as it grows.

Denise Pattiz Bogard is Director of the St. Louis Writer’s Workshop.
For more information about winter/spring 2003 session and other workshops, please visit our website: www.stlww.com or call Denise Bogard at 314-692-2629, or e-mail: info@stlouiswritersworkshop.com.

Between 1950-1953, names like Pusan, Inchon, Yechon, Chosin, Old Baldy, the Han River, Heartbreak Ridge, Pork Chop Hill were familiar to virtually everyone in America. They were some of the places where important military engagements took place during the Korean War. Many now call it the forgotten war. It hardly deserves either that name or that fate. Films ranging from “The Manchurian Candidate” to “MASH” and a recent spate of books about various aspects of the Korean conflict reveal that we are still haunted by that war which resulted in over 35,000 American and well over a million Korean casualties. The Korean War looms with historical importance: it was the first UN-sanctioned war; it was the first war where America used integrated combat troops; it was the first test of the American policy of containment of communism; it was our first war with China (unofficially), our first limited war of the 20th century, and the last American war with a front line. The unpopularity of the war caused Truman to decide not to run for re-election and cost the Democrats the White House in 1952. It was first hot flash-point of the Cold War, the conclusion of which was unsatisfying and inconclusive both militarily and politically for Americans. It was the war that gave us the word “brainwash” and caused much consternation and grief over the behavior of some American POWs.

On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, May 9, 10, and 11, 2003, Washington University’s International Writers Center in conjunction with the Missouri Historical Society will hold a conference remembering the Korean War. The conference will be free and open to the general public. The conference is entitled “The Coldest War and the Cold War: The Blood and Politics of the Korean Conflict, 1950-1953.” It will be held on the campus of Washington University. A number of scholars and veterans have been invited to give presentations. The keynote speaker is Bruce Cumings of the University of Chicago, a noted scholar of Korea and the war. There will be more details about the conference in future issues of The Figure in the Carpet. For more information call 935-5576.

The International Writers Center will launch a Faculty Luncheon Series this spring. At each session, one faculty member will make a 20-to-25 minute presentation about some aspect of his or her work: a new book, a work in progress, an overview of their research interests, or some particular problem in their field that they think might be of interest to others – a red-hot potato. This presentation will be followed by about 20 minutes of questions. All faculty and graduate students of Arts and Sciences, as well as IWC advisory board members are invited. We will provide lunch for all attendees. We hope to elicit “dinner talks” that are of general interest and are also entertaining.

Luncheons will be held February 20, March 20 and April 17 at Umrath Lounge, Umrath Hall, Washington University. The lunch will start promptly at 12:00 pm and end at 1:00 pm. Professor Richard “Red” Watson of the Department of philosophy is the first speaker for this spring. He will give a short disquisition on: “Fabulation: Two or Three Examples of How to Make Up True Stories about Descartes’s Life.”

Please mark the dates in your calendars. If there are any topics you wish to discuss in the series, please email us and we will make every attempt to include them. Prior to each session, all Arts and Sciences faculty will be prompted by email from the International Writers Center so you may tell us whether you can attend.