Writers In the Community

• Do you consider yourself a writer, why or why not? If so, when did you realize you were a writer? If not, what about writing interests you?
• What kind of things do you write about?
• What interests you most about writing?
• What are your expectations of this workshop/project? What are you excited, nervous, confused, and or in the dark about?
• What would you most like to learn about poetry?
• What do you hope to learn about yourself?
• What do you think you will learn about others?
• How old are you? What is your ethnicity? What “Campus” are you participating in the JustWrite Program from?

JM -Questionnaire Responses – UNM Writers in the Community

• Not particularly, I enjoy writing when I am put into a situation where it is required. I wish that I would make time to write regularly.
• I write many academic type papers for my courses at UNM. A couple of teachers have told me that I am an excellent writer, but a couple have not.
• I find it cleansing for my spirit and my soul.
• I hope to inspire the women in my workshop to express themselves, following up with a sense of self-reflection as they dig deep into their heart and soul.
• I would like to learn to take a theme and build my words to a crescendo and then gently ease down to a sense of peacefulness.
• I woudl like to learn what lies dormant inside my heart and beneath my skull.
• I hope to learn that by the end of my workshops the women have acquired a sense of need to express themselves with words on paper.
• I am a 54yr old Hispanic, Femal, in UNM’s Writers in the Community.

TB – Questionnaire Responses – UNM Writers in the Community

• Not yet, I am still a beginner with a lot to learn.
• Anything I find delightful or powerful or mysterious – or whatever else pops into my head.
• I’m really interested in the way that writing allows people to put words to things they normally would be too scared or to embarassed to say. I like when poems are so true they make you cringe.
• I expect to learn a lot, but I have no idea what to expect.
• I hope to surprise myself.
• I don’t know, but I can’t wait to find out.
• I am  22yr old Chicana, in UNM’s Writers in the Community.

SA – Questionnaire Responses – UNM Writers in the Community

• Yes. I belive anyone who consistently writes is a writer. I’ve enjoyed writing pretty much since I learned how to write.
• I wouldn’t say I write about specific things, but most of my work deals with the human condition, so people mostly.
• The ability writing has to create empathy and understanding between completely different people, interests me. Writing helps me to understand not only other people a little better, but myself as well. It’s very therapuetic for me.
• I’m still pretty confused on how exactly this program works and what exactly we’ll be doing, but I’m really excited to just be writing and gaining experience in a more professional setting. I hope to learn a lot, to be inspired, and inspire those around me.
• As a fan of poetry, I believe poetry is about experiencing a poem, so I hope to gain experience and inspiration.
• I’m not really sure, to be completely honest. I’m entering this program with an open-mind and am just hoping to learn anything I can.
• I hope to gain a more in-depth understanding of those from different walks of life.
• I’m a twenty-one year old, hispanic female, participating at UNM, in Writers in the Community.

1LP – Questionnaire Reponses- UNM Writers in the Community

• I consider myself a writer. I write on a regular basis and have done so for many years. I feel writing is an essential aspect of my life experience. I realized I was a writer in adolescence when I discovered the healing and transformative applications writing had in my life.
• I tend to write about typical character experiences in current culture. I try to convey my interpretation of the average U.S. citizen living in this country today. I stive to use everyday language that is accessible to a broad public. I want to ensure as amany people as possible can find identity with my characters.
• What interests me most about writing is the challenge of conveying experience of communal content using language that is often non-specific and easily open to interpretation. Whie it is easy for different readers to identify with what I produce it is difficult to produce work that different people feel communal identity with. I enjoy fragmenting common language and re-contextualizing syllables to create novel sounds and images.
• My expectation of this workshop are to become more prolific and proficient in my writing as well as to gather new perspectives and insights from my peers.
• What I would most lke to explore about poetry throug this course is the interconnectedness of our collective voices. I am eager to discover where our roots braid and where they diverge. I am also interested in searching out opportunities for collaborative creations.
• I hope to discover what lies deeper as I continue the archeological excavation of my sense of self.
• I think I will learn something about the personalities, writing styles, and experiences of the other writers in this course. I hope to discover the common ground of each of our ideas.
• I am a 37 year old, Hick-spanic participating in JustWrite – via UNM’s Writers in the Community.

RM – Questionnaire Responses – UNM Writers in the Community

• Yes! I think only recently have I noticed and called myself a writer, I always thought the way I write was not good enough, compared to others.
• What I write about, depends. I like persona poems, but only recently have i started writing about myself again.
• What interests me is the thone you can place in it, and how different people read different poems.
• I’m not sure what to expect so far. I’m still trying to picture in my head how it’s gonna go.
• I would like to learn the different ways people expres the same feelings, in a different way, within a poem.
• I’m not sure yet, about what I hope to learn about myself.
• About others, hopefully I will learn who they are within themselves, and the reasons why they write.
• I am a 19yr old, Mexican-Peruvian Female, UNM’s Writers in the Community class.

SO – Questionnaire Responses – UNM Writers in the Community

• I can consider myself a writer because I have learned to pick up a pen and relay the inner workings of my mind on paper. Writing allows me to speak my mind, and creates an everlasting piece of a moment in time, I may not remember otherwise.
• I write about prompts I am given in school. I have had a strong desire to write about what drives me through this life, my thoughts and opinions, however I am so busy that I have not made the time to make this desire a reality.
• What interests me is that, when you write, there is nobody ther to tell you what you are doing right or wrong. You have freedom to express yourself with no censor. Writing can be kept in a file for a very long time, and can bring back emotions that you may not remember otherwise.
• I expect to use my skills in terms of organization to create the opportunity for members of the community to grow. Preparation for opportunity = luck.
• I would most like to learn, different ways to facilitate writing workshops.
• I want to experienc other people’s perspectives and outlooks on life. I want to humble myself.
• I will learn that life is very different coming from different perspectives. I will learn strengths and weaknessess of workshops based on how others react.
• I am 21 year old, white female, in UNM’s Writers in the Community course

GLP – Questionnaire Responses – UNM Writers in the Community

• I do consider myself a writer. I realized I was a writer when I started writing what I feel, down.
• I mostly write about real and past life experiences, because it represents a form of release to me.
• What interests me most, is the fact that as a writer you have control on whatever you write about.
• I expect this project to be easy but also challenging. I enjoy interacting with new people and devote my time to the community. I am nervous about not being able to entertain and educate whomever my group will be.
• I would like to learn about different types of poetry and what classifies someone as a poet.
• I think that sometimes people tend to underestimate themselves by saying what they can’t do. One of those people is myself and I hope to learn maybe my different abilities no only as a writer, but also as a human being.
• I will earn how much people are different adn diverse and how it’s good to embrace diversity.
• I am a 19yr old female of Black descent, in UNM’s Writers in the Community course.

AN – Questionnaire Responses – UNM Writers in the Community

• I consider myself a writer because I have been writing for the past five years. I realized I was when I got involved with the youth writing program “Voces,” as the age of 16.
• I typically write about what my emotions are trying to communicate to me in story form.
• What interests me most about writing is the power words can have on me. I feel a completely different feeling during an Andrea Gibson poem versus reading a Jeffery McDaniel poem.
• My expectations are to gain a knowledge of my spoken word communities. I’m excited to see students expressing themselves, and nervouse about making the ball roll smoothly.
• I blieve you can never finish learning about poetry. With that said, I want to learn how to expand my own writing.
• I hope to surprise myself and break out of the slight shell I’ve created around me. I hope to become a bit more artsy.
• I hope to learn about their lives and hope to make expression a point for them in their life.
• I am a 20 yr old, female of 5 different heritages, in UNM’s Writers in the Community course.

MA – Questionnaire Responses – UNM Writers in the Community

• I consider myself an artist more so than a writer. I came to understand this desire and passion when I was eleven years old. The want to create soemthing more than just words on a paper. For these words on paper only a pathway to comprehend something greater than the words. Thse words once put together in a person’s mind create this image or idea, which is why I am an artist.
• I usually write towards ideas that or events that have a deeper meaning than what is just presented, whether the character’s names mean something that add personality to said character or the events taking place being allegories or parallels to other concepts. Specifically, I write about people who are not perfect and usually suffer some sort of conflict. I also write with a religious standpoint. Truly, whatever inspires me, I tend to write about because of the ability to pour that passion into my words.
• What interests me most about writing is the fac that I don’t need to say what needs to be said if the reader actually just pays attention to minor details. So many writers in this moder age give the reader everything right there in front of their eyes but leave tehir brain and heart empty because the story being told requires not hinking or doesn’t hold emotion. If it does hold emotion, it is usually foced, and being portrayed perfectly clear on the characters.
• My expectations of this project ar to further myself as a person and as a writer, bur more importanly further lives that I will come in contact with. Writing is such an important part of who I am and what i want to be, and to have the option to spread this feeling with others around me and hopefully inspire them, is a dream come true. I am very excited to be part of this project, but with this follows the skepticism of whether or not I will do a good job at it.
• I would ove to learn how to really just beter myself as a poet and hopefully fall away from my esoteric writing enough to where people can udnerstand the main points but not to the point where the art is lost.
• I hope to learn more about what type of teacher I am and what type of writer I am, although I am already both in different environments. With this type of environment I would hope to learn how to use different techniques and methods to help myself when I do go into the teaching profession.
• I imagine I will learn that others will yearn to strive for a specific type of writing and hopefully affect them in some what wthat will better themselves to help this world that is considered “at risk.”
• I am a twenty year old hispanic male, in UNM’s Writers in the Community course.

SN – Questionnaire Responses – UNM Writers in the Community

• I definitely consdier myself a writer, because my writing seves as my sanctuary. When it comes to my own writing, I feel I can express my feelings and ideas much more clearly than I ever could by talking with another individual. I never have to worry about akward silences or tongue twisting my words. This realization came to me early on in my childhood, having alwasy written above and beyond the required minimums. I always kept a journal with me wherever I went, being sure to jot down story ideas from the things I saw on my daily trek.
• I can write abou anything really. I don’t mind writing long essays, or short stories. Altogether, as long as I am writing, I am satisfied.
• I blieve having a creative outlet like writing is always something that had interested me the most. As I’ve said before, when it comes to my own writing, I feel I can express my feelings and ideas much more clearly than conversing with another. I believe that his is a common feeling shared by most writers. But having the ability to read the feelings and thoughts of others, and relate to their storeis, is one of the most refreshing feelings one could possibly encounter.
• I hope instructing these workshops will not only aid me in my own writing, but also help the other studetns taking it, to discover their own love for the art. I’m interested to watch their progress over the semester, by doing fun writing exercises with them. I seem to be nervous about one thing, and that’s getting students more involved and willing to write on their free time.
• I suppose I would like to learn the different poetry, and some famous poets who really bring to light this genre of writing.
• I hope to learn how to expand my interpersonal skills, so that writing wont be used as my only outlet.
• I am really interested in learning the students learning styles, since it such a unique and importan factor.
• I am an 18yr old Hispanic Female, in UNM’s Writers in the Community course.