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The write stuff:
The Hooligans juggle creative expression, unusual prompts and their new fall semester anthology
by Sarah Pierce
Despite their name, the Literary Hooligans don't wreak havoc upon libraries or English seminars, violently correcting grammar and citing famous works of literature. Instead, the new group tries to keep its meetings lively through other unorthodox activities. They meet every week to write about everything from mental illness and unicorns to death and sweatshirts.
During an average meeting the group is presented with a prompt, which can vary from a walk down the train tracks to synesthesia to Paul Beatty's poem "Dib-Dab."
"One time it was just a line of chalk drawn across the chalkboard," said Adam Barrett '08, one of the group's founders. "Basically you take whatever the prompt is, write whatever you feel like that inspires and go in whatever direction you want."
For some group members, that direction entails confronting personal issues.
(This paragraph has been deleted on 12/11/2007 due to a request from a student feeatured in it.)
Literary Hooligans started last year when a group of about eight friends wanted more opportunities to express themselves creatively. "I just wanted a way to keep [writing] up that was in a not-so-structured environment," said one of the group's founders, Jamie Zwiebel '08. "We started meeting informally, just to write. And slowly it started to form into a stronger group."
According to Barrett, the group became more organized this year. This year the group had a booth at the organizations fair, put up flyers and will soon be publishing the Fall 2005 edition of their anthology.
They write together and can either share their works, turn them in for the anthology or take them home to continue to work
For another student, Erin Sindewald '08, the experience is more about enjoyment and writing and less about an emotional release. "For me personally, it is just about the fun," Sindewald said. "I like being around writers the same age, coming from different levels of experience and backgrounds."
The fall semester anthology, "The Writer's Guide to Mayhem and Madness," will soon be available in the post office.
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