PEL authors celebrated; Writing instructors, tutors, and staff recognized

article and images by Anne W. Anderson

About 45 PEL people -- alumni, current and former writing instructors, former writing tutors, staff, and friends -- gathered in Cobb Gallery on Saturday evening, January 14, to recognize the impact the writing studies programs have had in the lives of alumni of all disciplines.

Twelve PEL alumni brought or sent published work to display, and other work from the PEL bookshelves also was displayed. Work ranged from scholarly work in the fields of neuroscience, business, and history to inspirational writing, memoir, fiction, and poetry.

SCROLL TO END TO SEE SLIDE SHOW

PEL Associate Dean of Faculty Margret Skaftadottir (P '20)

Writing instructors, tutors, staff recognized

PEL Executive Director Amanda Hagood welcomed the group, then introduced PEL Associate Dean of Faculty Margret Skaftadottir who recognized the work of PEL's writing instructors (all forms) through the years as contributing to students' successes as writers in all fields.

Skaftadottir then recognized PEL's writing tutors over the years, noting that some tutors also had become instructors in the program.

Some of PEL's writing tutors, instructors, friends

"In some ways, the tutors had the harder task," Skaftadottir said. "They were taking sometimes very raw writing and were faced with what to address first. Without the tutors, many of our students would have had a more difficult time succeeding in PEL."

Skaftadottir also recognized staff members who had served the writing program in different capacities: Patti Cooksey '97, currently PEL's director of general education courses, once oversaw the writing tutor program; Alaina Tackitt '08, currently PEL's director of writing services, who also teaches composition courses in PEL; and Craig Anderson '15, formerly PEL's academic writing coach, who now works as the learning and performance facilitator for Coca-Cola.

Angela Masterson Jones '12 (P '14)

Readings

Following a short time of mingling and enjoying the food, displays, and artwork, Hagood introduced Angela Masterson Jones '12 (Creative Writing), Eckerd College's associate director of communications and the College editor. 

Jones, a four-time alumna of the Writers in Paradise conference at Eckerd and a published poet and fiction writer, read two poems in progress, "Yard Sale" and "Dreaming Under Influence (DUI)."






Jones then introduced each of the other readers, who collectively represented a range of disciplines:

Ellen Nizzi '11

• Ellen Nizzi '11 (Creative Writing) read from her lively memoir in progress "Continuing Education."
• Matt DiPalma '17 (Humanities/History) read from his 2016 book German Military Papers of the Second World War. 
• Monica Geers Dahl '98 (Human Development/Gender Studies), Ph.D., read from her  chapter, "PTSD Symptom Reduction with Neurofeedback," which appeared in the 2015 book Restoring the Brain: Neurofeedback as an Integrative Approach to Health.
•  Anne W. Anderson  '07 (Creative Writing) read from her 2009 children's story "Just Kidding," which was published in Pockets magazine.
• Dovév Weaver, Sr. '16 (Humanities/American Studies) read from his 2016 book Chasing Your Dream: Bound for Success.
• Heidi Tilney Kramer '08 (Humanities/American Studies) read from her 2016 book Media Monsters.
• Anne Visser Ney '07 (Creative Writing) read from an essay-in-progress titled "Knives and Other Terrible Things That Float." 
• Cristina Querrer '07 (Creative Writing/Visual Arts) read from her book of poetry, The Art of Exporting, and from her novel-in-progress, The Butterfly Catcher. 

Other PEL authors who attended or who sent work to be displayed included Craig Anderson '15 (Human Development/Creative Writing), Cal Brown '16 (Visual Arts), Annie Newman Behr Ennis '88 (Marketing), Ed Mahon '86 (Management Information Systems), and Ricky Roberts III '13 (Human Development). 

Rememberings and reflections

Attendees wrote responses to Wording Wall prompts, which were posted near the buffet area, and these written responses are included in the slide presentation below. Other thoughts were shared toward the end of the evening when the floor was opened for comments and reflections about the writing program and about the PEL experience.

Linda Johnson, Sarasota center director for many years, was recognized by PEL alumni Debra Piner and others who had been students at the center.

Several people spoke about how their PEL experience had changed their lives or pointed them in a new direction.

Cheryl Keyes '99 (Personnel Management Concentration in Organizational Studies), currently working in the Human Resources department of Pinellas County Schools, noted that the effects of the PEL writing program extend far beyond the arena of published work and into myriad everyday writing tasks.

"My colleagues at work have noticed and commented on the quality of my writing," Keyes said. "Even when I just send emails, I sometimes hear, 'You write so well!'"

PEL Director of Writing Services Alaina Tackitt agreed and told of an experience she had had.

“I was at an event at the Mahaffey recently with a couple of friends, who happened to be PEL graduates," Tackitt said. "One had brought her new partner, who, it turned out, also was a PEL grad. As I often do, I happened to be wearing my Eckerd College cap, and two people sitting in front of us noticed my hat, and said, ‘Oh, we're PEL grads!’

PEL Director of Writing Services Alaina Tackitt '08

“I said, ‘I’m a PEL grad, too, and so are my friends.’

“Several rows down, two more people heard us, turned around, and said, ‘We’re PEL grads, too!’

“Others around the auditorium began waving and saying, ‘PEL grad!’ ‘PEL grad!’

“Then, two people up front, who were with the League of Women voters, stood up and identified themselves as PEL grads, too."

“This program has changed the face of the Greater Tampa Bay Area," Tackitt said. "We're the reason people locally know Eckerd College, and Eckerd College PEL people have become involved in local affairs at every level.

“We used to joke that PEL was like a cult," Tackitt said," and I guess the moral of the story is that you can close the program, but you can’t kill the cult.”

At the close of the evening, attendees adjourned to Miller Auditorium to hear poet Richard Blanco, keynote speaker for the 2017 Writers in Paradise Conference.

Anne W. Anderson is PEL's director of blended and online learning 

and is co-editor of The PEL Connector.