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New club Dead Writers Society brings creative writing community back to life

(Joy Chen/Daily Bruin staff)

By Reese Dahlgren

Oct. 24, 2024 11:58 p.m.

In a quiet third-floor Rolfe Hall classroom, evening light streamed through the window shutters as students joined this school year’s first meeting of the Dead Writers Society.

Founded in January, the club began as an informal idea between four friends, said Mia Dowdell, the club’s vice president who was a Daily Bruin Graphics contributor during the 2023-2024 school year. Dowdell, a second-year English and psychology student, and the three other founders met through other writing clubs on campus, where they soon realized writers needed a space where they could receive more feedback on their work, she added.

“We felt like there was this gap in writing clubs on campus, where there weren’t a lot of clubs that allowed people to submit writing to get critique or feedback on it to improve their piece,” Dowdell said.

The club’s founders decided on the name Dead Writers Society because of their love of the movie “Dead Poets Society” and its dark academia aesthetics, as well as how the movie explores writing in unexpected situations, said Jade Baxendale, the club’s treasurer.

The club focuses on providing positive and constructive feedback, said Baxendale, a second-year geography student. She added that when students come to the meetings, they bring in work that other members read beforehand, and the authors can share what type of feedback they’re looking for.

“It’s very catered to what the writer themself wants,” Baxendale said.

As the first meeting commenced, members gathered in a loose semicircle of desks as each member introduced the person sitting next to them. After the founders introduced themselves and provided a brief presentation about the club, the workshopping began.

The club mostly focuses on creative writing, including fiction stories, poetry and screenplays, Dowdell said. Pieces are selected on a first-come, first-serve basis, with each meeting including around three to four pieces, she added.

“It could be something they’re working on, like a personal project or something they might want to submit to a magazine,” Dowdell said.

Two pieces – a short story and an excerpt of a longer novel – were projected on the chalkboard, each presented by their respective author. The group’s attention focused fully on the authors as they highlighted particular areas of interest where they sought feedback, such as the story’s fluidity or dialogue’s effectiveness.

With club leadership facilitating the conversation, members dove into discussion, often combining their constructive comments with praises for the author’s work. In addition to facilitating a safe space for developing writers, Dowdell said another goal of the club is to help writers gain better access to both learning and publishing opportunities.

“I feel like as a writer, it’s definitely difficult to find those opportunities,” she said. “To submit to those things and get your work published, we want to make that process easier for people.”

In the future, the club hopes to hold more social events outside of club meetings, such as visiting book festivals and hosting poetry readings, Baxendale said.

Maya Allen, one of the club’s first members and a second-year English student, said she discovered the club after meeting one of its founders during freshman orientation. The club’s sense of community and shared passion have been the best part of joining, they added.

“The validity that comes from getting compliments but also constructive criticism of your work – … it makes it feel like it’s actually being seen,” Allen said.

The club initially struggled to get started in the middle of the busy school year as getting word out about the club was difficult, Baxendale said. However, she said that the club is now going strong as its members have had time to get settled and get more information out.

“The most rewarding part of the club is really just the community it’s creating,” Baxendale said. “It’s just about creating a community for people who love the creative arts.”

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Reese Dahlgren
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