By Leah Spoolstra – Collegiate Staff
Writers Ken Zahrt and Brandon James Anderson are geared up to present their lecture entitled “Author vs. Editor” on Sept. 18 at Grand Rapids Community College.
This event will be presented by the Great Lakes Commonwealth of Letters, which is a literary nonprofit organization in Grand Rapids. This event is part of a series called Writers Squared where writers share and discuss literature. Admission is free and will be open to the public.
Zahrt and Anderson first met in 2011 while teaching in the English department at Baker College of Owosso. Then, in 2013, they began to collaborate on writing and editing for The Fly Came Near It. Currently, they are working on the fourth edition of their annual journal, the Old Northwest Review.
As a graduate of Grand Valley State University with a bachelor’s of the arts in communication, Zahrt wrote his first novel titled “Odd Man Outlaw” in 2014. Anderson received a master’s of fine arts from San Diego University and his work is published in several online magazines.
Anderson believes that writing is an important step for college students to advance in their endeavors.
“It’s important for college students to get an interest in reading and finding things that they are interested in exploring,” Anderson said. “Learning more about the world and about yourself is a part of the college experience and literature can play a role in that.”
The “Author vs. Editor” lecture will discuss issues that people face when writing for personal and professional goals in a conversational approach. Zahrt and Anderson intend to speak about the writing process in relation to editing, how to overcome setbacks, writing opportunities in the Midwest, as well as reading from recent literary works.
Zahrt said that writing is an important factor in students’ overall success.
“Communication is so fundamental to everything we do, that achieving career success, however (students) want to define it, is going to require significant attention to the ability to write effectively,” Zahrt said. “It starts with resumes and cover letters, but it continues with emails and reports of some kind nearly every day.”
After teaching writing courses, Anderson considers writing to be important for everyone.
“Writing at its purest form is an outlet for expression and creativity, which is also something important for students, and people in general, to take an interest in,” Anderson said.
The “Author vs. Editor” lecture is scheduled for Mon., Sept. 18 from 6:30 p.m – 7:30 p.m. in room 122 of the Applied Technology Center building on the GRCC campus.
