CHICAGO, IL (July 2, 2008) – Columbia College Chicago Fiction Writing students along with students from the Bath Spa University Writing Program in England have published a collection of diverse student writing.
Open to Interpretation is the result of a yearlong project that involved four students from each school who traveled to each other’s programs for two weeks under the supervision and teaching of Bath Spa Chair Steve May and Fiction Writing Department Chair Randall Albers. Each school chose four students to participate in an array of classes from each program, as well as engaging in a research project and collaborative editorial meetings in which they conceptualized the guidelines for the journal, a campaign for submissions, read manuscripts, made editorial decisions and managed all phases of copyediting, proofing, and publishing. The copyediting style reflected English usage for works submitted by English students, and American standards for Columbia students. The design and printing were done in England.
The result is a 183-page anthology that ranges over novel excerpts, poetry, screenplays, and short stories, each of which express the author’s unique voice and point of view.
The work that has been accomplished through this exchange has produced a new partnership for the coming school year, when Fiction Writing Department faculty and Columbia Teaching Excellence Award winner Patricia McNair will spend the Fall 2008 Semester teaching at Bath Spa University. Both Steve May and other Bath Spa creative writing faculty will, in turn, be participating in short-term residencies in the Columbia Fiction Writing Department in the Spring 2009 semester. It is anticipated that once again, this partnership will bring forth a cross-Atlantic course of study and a creative collaborative project.
Open to Interpretation is available for $10 through the Columbia College Chicago Bookstore and the Fiction Writing Department. To find out more about the Columbia College Chicago Fiction Writing Program, visit: http://www.colum.edu/Academics/Fiction_Writing/index.php.
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