This Friday, come 7 p.m. at the Katzman Lounge, more than 40 creative writing students will be presenting their work at the Creative Writing Gala Reading.

Each student stands up to the podium, takes a deep breath, and reads a short piece. Then the next student runs up, and presents theirs.

“I’m really excited,” said Priscilla Bernauer, a fourth-year English literature and creative writing student. “This’ll be my third consecutive year doing it.”

Students have to work over their nerves to perform.

“I tend to get a bit jittery,” said Bernauer. “I’ve been giggling a lot today.”

Many of the classes have also put together their own chapbooks: collections of their work. These will be for sale at the gala. Bernauer worked on the chapbook for her Creative Writing III class.

“I was the managing editor for the chapbook and I learned a lot about the process of editing,” she said. “So it’s really exciting to see everyone’s work together.”

Professor Nicole Markotić said the gala is fun for audience members.

“We only get a taste of each writer; everyone reading gets two minutes, so the evening goes by in a flurry,” she said. “It's a great way to celebrate a year of writing challenges, verbal back-flips, and wild page formatting!”

The event is free and open to the public.

— article and photo by Jason Rankin