In the past two years Pomona College has landed two well-known authors to fill two creative writing teaching positions.

This year’s arrival of Janet Fitch, the recipient of the Moseley Fellowship, along with the anticipated arrival of David Foster Wallace as the Roy Disney endowed chair of creative writing next fall, only increases the growing interest in creative writing at Pomona.

When Janet Fitch was introduced at a reading of her works last Wednesday by the words "writers are always our teachers," there were nods of approval among the students, faculty, and community members who gathered to listen. Yet this has not been the case at Pomona in the past few years.

"The teaching of creative writing had become… assigned principally to a number of part-time faculty," commented President Peter Stanley. "Even though they were very talented, their part-time status made it difficult to build a program."

It has been the students who have led the way coupled with funds provided from generous alumni. "The real credit for this recovery of Pomona’s historic strength in creative writing goes to the English faculty…and to the creative writing students who made such a compelling case," explained Stanley.

Pressure mounted with a student petition circulated last year. The petition advocated the hiring of a professor of creative writing, which the college had lacked since the retirement of Professor of English Robert Mezey two years prior. "People were ready for it," said Kristin Kearns ’02, a student in Fitch’s class and English DeThe same feeling is present in Fitch’s Advanced Fiction class. "It makes you feel good to know that you’re studying with a published and well-known author," Kearns said.

"She teaches in a style that is informative while retaining the tone of an author sharing with other authors," explains fellow class member Dylan Borgman ’05.

It is not merely the joy of the experience, but also the talent of writing well, that students collect from Fitch’s class. "She doesn’t allow you to be lazy with your writing," comments Jake Oken-Berg ’02, "every word needs to be a conscious choice."

"She’s eloquent but to the point, and always attacks our fundamental problems," Borgman said.

Fitch also has enjoyed teaching the class. "Most of the time [writers] are by ourselves," she said, "this gives us a chance to communicate."

Students have risen to the demands of such a highly demanding author. "There is a difference in writing at the college level and at the next level. Who knows who will go on to the next level," Fitch said, "but there are several who have the talent and the prospects."

It may not even be an immediate process. It took Fitch ten years of writing before a publisher picked up her work and another ten years before White Oleander, called by Kirkus Reviews at Amazon.com "Vigorous, polished prose, strong storytelling, satisfyingly complex characters, and thoughtfully nuanced perceptions," brought her the popularity she presently knows.

"We [write] because it’s not so much therapy, but it’s a way of processing the world," she said.

"We are at the dawn of a great era for creative writing at Pomona," said Stanley, "to have writers the stature of Fitch and Wallace teaching at Pomona makes us a real center for creative writing."

Student interest in creative writing continues to grow. The 5-C creative writing magazine, Passwords has flourished and will now be in its second consecutive year of publication. "The literary magazine hasn’t been active in the last few years, but it took off last year," said Kearns.