A decade ago, before coming to Utah Valley University as a creative writing professor, Kara Van de Graff participated in the New York State Summer Writers Institute at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. Now, UVU creative writing student Alessia Love will have the same opportunity after her work won a scholarship to the prestigious summer program.
A decade ago, before coming to Utah Valley University as a creative writing professor, Kara van de Graaf participated in the New York State Summer Writers Institute at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. Now, UVU creative writing student Alessia Love will have the same opportunity after her work won a $1,500 scholarship to the prestigious summer program.
Love joins more than 50 other students for this year’s program, including winners from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, George Washington, Vanderbilt, and Northwestern.
“I was so pleased to see Alessia’s name on the list of scholarship winners,” van de Graff said. “If anyone doubts how high-achieving our students at UVU can be, just look at those school names. I’m feeling very proud.”
Love says van de Graaf told her what an amazing experience the Summer Writers Institute was for her, so she collected several poems she had written in van de Graaf’s advanced poetry capstone course at UVU and sent in the application.
“I’ve learned a lot from Dr. van de Graaf’s classes because she’s very much focused on the process of writing as opposed to the product,” Love said. “She emphasizes that focusing on how you have created something, rather than what or what comes out at the end, is a lot more important, and it's crucial to our growth as writers.”
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Summer Writers Institute won’t be held in person, but the students will connect online in small groups and share poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, along with public readings and question-and-answer sessions with guest writers.
Love, a senior at UVU, said she plans to continue with creative writing after graduation, although it may be something she pursues as a side interest while working in a related field. Currently, she serves as a presidential intern to Kara Schneck, UVU vice president of marketing and communications.
“I’m really passionate about writing and storytelling — I just love it,” Love said. “I’m not necessarily going to make creative writing my career path, but I’ll always be pursuing a creative project.”
For more information on the New York State Summer Writers Institute, visit the program’s website.
To learn more about UVU’s creative writing program, visit their website within UVU’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
