Author Mark Salzman, a candidate for the newly endowed Chair of Creative Writing in Pomona's English department, met with English department faculty last Tuesday and was scheduled to meet and interact with students yesterday.

As the first candidate for the creative writing professorship to come to campus, English department faculty and students plan to use Salzman's visit to gauge the success of the protocol they have established for visiting professorship candidates.

For Salzman and other candidates that visit Pomona in the future, a student workshop will begin the student evaluation process.

"The idea is to see how the candidates interact with students," English department student liaison Kristin Kearns '02 said.

The workshop will center around student submissions gathered from English majors and a creative writing group.

Salzman was forwarded the submissions, and is expected to address them for about 90 minutes.

After the student submission session, candidates will speak with students informally for about 30 minutes. A dinner including students and the candidate is to follow. The Salzman dinner will occur at the Sagehen Cafˇ in the Smith Campus Center.

The last opportunity for student interaction with the candidate will come during a reading of the candidate's work at 8 pm.

The next candidate for the position is expected to visit in December. Students in the English department report being informed by their professor that author David Foster, acclaimed author of Infinite Jest, will be interviewing for the position, but the English department will neither confirm nor deny the reports.

A $1.75 million endowment from Pomona alumnus Roy E. Disney will fund the professorship in creative writing. The position was advertised as a "senior rank, tenured position" in professional circles.

The new professorship is expected to broaden Pomona's current creative writing curriculum, which has been taught by part-time staff since Professor Robert Mezey's retirement.

The English department hopes to fill the position in time to offer classes with the new professor next fall.

Student input about the choice of professor to fill the position is welcomed, and should be directed to the English department student liaisons, Kristin Kearns x75647 and Paul Dahlgren x74178.