17 Apr April 17, 2019 post – Community Writing Class

Hello readers! Hannah Nuss here, current Assistant Editorial Intern for the Drake Community Press. Over the course of completing our publication, I’ll be keeping you updated on the many facets and faces that make up this wonderful project! My first blog entry is focused on the Community Writing class taught by Carol Spaulding-Kruse, the Director of DCP. I’m fortunate enough to be employed by the press and be enrolled in the class, allowing me to see our publication from many angles of operation.

As you’re probably aware, DCP is partnering with Above + Beyond Cancer for our upcoming book, telling the stories of those affected by cancer in the Des Moines community. The class then is an opportunity for students to refine their writing skills while also connecting with the narratives of those in their community. The Community Writing class has spent much of its time thus far examining the cannon of cancer literature in an effort to prep students for when they’ll be writing cancer other people’s narratives.

We’ve read some fascinating stuff so far! Two of the more notable titles have been memoirs When Breathe Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi and In The Body of Everything by Eve Ensler. I especially enjoyed Ensler’s writing for the raw and riveting qualities of her prose. The details of her cancer journey relayed themselves in my mind long after reading them: