Gone on Vacation....

Dearest WEGO-ites....

What a year it's been! Some 150 of us-- students, teachers, and alumni -- came together to form a professional student organization: WEGO. The goal was to create an organization for our graduate writers-- a place in which they might share, network, explore the craft, and build friendships. I think we've accomplished all of these goals, and more! Here's a quick lookback over 2006-07: (**cue swelling background music**)

In late September, WEGO (the Writing-English Graduate organization) came into being as an "unofficial" student group, sponsored by the PSU English Department. I was hired as the WEGO Coordinator and Michele Glazer became the WEGO Advisor. We were off!

In early October, we held our (hopefully-to-be-annual) fall "Meet and Greet" at the Simon Benson House. A wonderful time was had by all-- some 100+ attended! Special thanks go to English chair Elisabeth Ceppi; we didn't have any budget $$ yet, and Prof. Ceppi was kind enough to front the $$ for the event. The event introduced our two newest professors, Paul Collins and Debra Gwartney (both in nonfiction).

In late October, we got the 'WEGO Blog' up and running. It continues to be a work in progress, but I have had a great deal of feedback about how the Blog has helped WEGOnians keep in touch with the writing program. Check the Blog on any given day and you might find job opportunities, calls for submissions, information about new classes, or even congratulatory messages.The Blog has been particularly important to our part-time students, helping them feel like they were part of the writing community, and helping them know what was going on at any given time.

A WEGO email list was created around this time. Besides providing an important communication tool, the list has also come in handy for some other purposes, including providing resource people to mentor "Firsties" in the program or to answer questions of prospective students.

In November, WEGO was not only functioning on its own, but had taken concrete steps to differentiate itself from EGO (the English Graduate Organization), an important step in giving our writing students an "identity" separate from EGO, the graduate organization for literature students.

In December, the EGO and WEGO coordinators met for a "summit meeting," at which time we laid out a proposed schedule for the rest of the year and discussed the possibility of shared events. (Note: one of these was to be the annual EGO-WEGO book sale, which is an EGO event but which EGO agreed WEGO could become part of. Unfortunately, the event wasn't held--but next year, it certainly will be.)

In January, we "incorporated" WEGO as an official SALP (Students Activities and Leadership Programs) organization, giving us a small but viable working budget for the year. This included creating a WEGO constitution, and hiring yours truly as the first WEGO coordinator and establishing Michele Glazer as the WEGO Advisor. (Note: Although we got WEGO started in the fall, I was not officially hired until after the fall term SALP deadline for incorporation of new groups; thus, we had to wait until winter term to officially join SALP.)

Also in January, Michele Glazer went to Montana for a visiting professorship, and Debra Gwartney stepped in as acting WEGO Advisor.

In February, we planned the first annual "WEGO Call for Papers." EGO had had its own 'CFP' in previous years, and had offered one or two slots for writing students. This year, we made the decision to split off and have our own CFP, creating three prizes in each of three categories: nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. We also found outside-the-program judges in each of the categories.

In March, the "WEGO Call for Papers" was posted, and the submissions poured in-- almost 50 of them, which meant that more than 1/3 of current WEGO students had taken part!

Also in March, we held a "WEGO Logo" contest, selecting full color and black and white logos (both created by WEGO members in the publishing program).

In early April, we posted a request for applications to fill the WEGO Coordinator position for 2007-08. Michele Glazer returned to PSU, and she and Debra Gwartney decided to continue serving as joint WEGO Advisors.

We also added Library Thing to the Blog.

In mid-April, we announced the 8 winners of the "Call for Papers." Winners received Powells gift cards. And....

In May, we held an informal reading by the "Call for Papers" winners. The reading took place in N407, and featured refreshments. About 20 people attended.

In early and mid-May, 22 students in the nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and publishing programs defended their theses/portfolios and passed their oral exams, thus qualifying for their MA or MS in writing or publishing!

In mid-May, a new WEGO coordinator-- Jessica Machado-- was selected and will begin her term of service in the fall. In addition, a WEGO events coordinator-- Jeff Alessandrelli-- was also appointed. Jessica will be the general WEGO coordinator, while Jeff will assume key roles in planning an annual speakers program and assisting the writing faculty with the Kellogg Awards.

In late May, we put on an open-to-the-public evening reading by a selected group of senior and graduating students in fiction and nonfiction. "Tales Tall and True" was our second annual spring reading, and was well attended (40-ish people) and lots of fun.

Also in late May, the current and incoming WEGO coordinators and the two WEGO Advisor met to consider the 2007-08 schedule. The WEGO student group pulled together to nominate their "writing teacher of the year," Debra Gwartney.

And now, in June, we finished up our classes, wrote our final papers, and saw another academic year come to a close. Several of us also walked in the June 16 graduation-- where we all sat together, in writerly solidarity.

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It's been a wonderful year, my friends, and you've all helped to make it so. I'll be serving as WEGO coordinator through June 30. After that, WEGO and the WEGO Blog will go on hiatus until the end of August or so, at which point Jessica will step in and pick up the reins. I know that she and Jeff are going to do a great job next year-- I can't wait to see what's next for WEGO!

Many blessings to all-- have a most excellent summer!

Sue Pesznecker, M.A. (How about that!)
Your devoted WEGO coordinator, and a proud alumnus of the nonfiction program