14 Comments

Hi Ellen! I’m a current senior at Stanford and related so so deeply to this piece — esp the line “Choosing to write is choosing to live.” I’ve had such a similar experience and journey at this school and it brings me comfort to know other students care so much about the arts and our creative writing program, a program that has made me feel so human and alive in the face of such an inhumane institution. Thank you for sharing 🤍

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Thank you for reading my post, Manasi! I am so happy to hear that you resonate with my experience and have benefitted greatly from our creative writing program.

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Fascinating. Sad. Well articulated. I also feel “choosing to write is choosing to live” cannot be overstated. Certainly it’s so true for me, as a still improving 77 year old !!

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Beautifully said. As a fellow engineer this struck a chord with me. Writing is both my escape and my way of making sense of the world.

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This makes great points AND it’s so beautifully written.

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Insightful article about the power of writing and the power of writing workshops/classes in a university setting. These classes can be life-changing and life saving, as you shared. Thank you for sharing your personal experience in such a moving and honest post.

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Thank you for reading. I’m thankful to this community for fostering that life giving power of writing.

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Even though I'm from the other side of the world, I love your thoughts on the importance of writing—and creating in general, plus the study of it—to everyone's lives, especially the youth. Reminded me of this quote from an interview with Kanayama Tsutomu, Professor at Ritsumeikan University, Japan:

"The first step is to change the way that society in general views the liberal arts. I hope to bid farewell to the idea that the liberal arts are a form of “general education” to provide to new students before they move on to “higher” fields of study like the law, economics, business management, or literature." –Taking the Liberal Arts to the Next Level in Japan

How you articulated everything gave me so much food for thought!!

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thank you for writing this!

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Thank you so much for reading! It means a lot.

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Great article. I didn't do many creative writing classes during my time there, but this decision just seems so utterly wrong headed, so driven by pride. I do not see how the program can operate and be a lifeline to so many students (some of whom are currently very successful writers) without the institutional knowledge embodied by long term lecturers

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I like your point about pride—at this point so many students, alumni, and faculty have signed petitions, written letters, and asked Stanford to reconsider their decision. Rallying the people is not the problem! But at the end of the day, because it was a decision driven by pride (ex. coming on the heels of a long overdue pay raise, the ultimate decision being up to a group of only white men), it is now so deeply protected by pride. I hope that voicing the student experience at Stanford so publicly will at least urge them to see that the best way to protect what matters now—the real pride of the school, the students—is to reevaluate and keep the lecturers, but we will see. Thank you so much reading! I circulate your writing often with my peers in my creative writing and literature circles. We are always so thankful to see writers on the other side, succeeding and beating on.

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Thank you so much, Ellen - this is an amazing piece. I'll be featuring it today on the Substack project - also, anyone on this comment thread who hasn't subscribed to the Substack or submitted a letter to us in support of the lecturers, I encourage you to do so! We can get them to reverse this ridiculous decision but we need people to speak out as Ellen and so many others have...

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This is powerful stuff. Thanks for sharing 🙏🏽

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