Creative Writing

Longtime arts patron Doris E. Patz was asked to present creative-writing awards to 14 students from Baltimore County schools last night. But to her surprise, the 93-year-old Pikesville woman, who founded the competition, also was honored. Calling her a "Baltimore County treasure," Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. announced that the writing program was being renamed the Doris E. Patz Creative Writing Awards. Patz, a former concert violinist and writer, was appointed to Baltimore County's Arts and Sciences Commission in 1992.

He seemed every bit as charming and funny as when I last saw him. Thirty-odd years ago, I sat in Room 205 of Stuyvesant High School in New York City, two or three rows directly back from Frank McCourt's desk. He perched on the side of his desk and looked out in my direction, talking about creative writing, long before he had written anything of consequence. With certainty, I know that he is largely responsible for the writer I have become. And now I sat up in the Grand Tier of the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore, so far away from the stage that I could barely make out the features on his face.

What does Campbell's Soup's familiar label mean to you? Express your feelings artistically and you could win a grand prize of $10,000 and 100 shares of Campbell's stock. There are categories for professionals, amateurs and youths, and the expression can be a bit of creative writing or various kinds of art. For information, call toll-free (888) SOUPERART, check the World Wide Web at www.Campbellsoups.com, or write Campbell's Entry Form, P.O. Box 654, Sayreville, N.J. 08871-0654.Pub Date: 3/26/97

I met Padma Viswanathan at a reading at the Johns Hopkins University - where she got a master's degree in creative writing - and was captivated by her story. The Toss of a Lemon is an intergenerational tale set in India, drawn from family lore and her imagination. Here's an excerpt of an interview via e-mail; the complete version is on Read Street: What was your inspiration? The Toss of a Lemon was inspired by stories my grandmother told me of her grandmother, who was married as a child and widowed at 18. My great-great-grandmother, like my main character, Sivakami, chose to raise her children in her own house, despite severe restrictions on Brahmin widows in south India in the early 20th century.

On June 18, 2003 BAIL L. RAO, born in India, son of the late Bail and Laxmi Gopalakrishnaya. He received his PhD in England and worked for several major companies including Clairol and MaxFactor as a Research Manager. From 1968 to 1985 he was the Chairman of the Department of CHemistry at Coppin State University. In 1985 he retired andobtained a Bachelor's Degree in Creative Writing from the University of Baltimore. He is also survived by a nephew and a grand-niece. He enjoyed reading writing and the horse races.

CHRISTINE CINQUINO, 15, daughter of Joseph and Connie Cinquino of Westminster.School: Freshman at Mount de Sales Academy for Girls in Catonsville.Honored for: Getting her poem, "The Chicken Turkey," published in Stories for Children by Children: A Creative Writing Newsletter.Christine also won second place in the poetry division of the "Celebration of Life" contest sponsored by the Catholic Daughters of the Americas, Court Caton.Goals: Christine said she plans to continue writing and enjoys poetry.

Rather than solicit New Year's resolutions, we've asked Baltimore area poets and others to contribute haiku, the 17-syllable form of verse traditional to Japan, that speak to the year ahead. Each haiku (and near haiku, give or take a syllable or two) represents a dream, a hope, a concern; for home, community, the world. Some are joyful; others reflect guarded optimism or despair. Compact and portable, the haiku below give readers a thought to carry with them on the journey through 2005.

CHESTERTOWN -- Six years ago Tanya Angell Allen's parents were beside themselves with worry. Their daughter was experiencing emotional problems, and they had decided to place her in a mental institution.Yesterday they were beside themselves again. But this time the Allens of Trumbull, Conn., were overjoyed.Their daughter, who was hospitalized for several months before finishing high school, had just been named winner of Washington College's prestigious Sophie Kerr Prize for literary promise.

"Lose control." "Don't think." "Go for the jugular."Those were among the creative-writing tips offered to eight students at Florence Bain Senior Center in Columbia one recent Thursday, at a class called "Writing Your Life Story."What began four years ago as a class on autobiographies has evolved in the past year into a workshop on creative writing, under the guidance of instructor Yvette Ridenour, 33, a Catonsville resident."I discovered a lot of talent," said Mrs. Ridenour, who holds a bachelor of arts in English literature from University of Maryland and a master's of arts in writing from the Johns Hopkins University.

At Goucher College in Towson, author Madison Smartt Bell has been teaching creative writing for nearly 20 years. That's a lot of short stories - which often are long on drama and depressing themes. He once had a student who "got his jollies" by shocking the class with pornographic and violent writing. He was harmless, if annoying. More common are writers who reveal their own problems. "When I get convincing suicide stories, I try to intervene," Bell said. "You want to go up to that person and say, `What's up with this?

The bespectacled boy puts his head down on the desk for the second time, even though his English teacher is delivering a spirited spiel on tone in writing that has engaged other students. Teacher Alicia Appel sees him but doesn't let on. Instead, she quickly shifts gears by choosing that boy and three other classmates for an impromptu act to demonstrate how tone can change meaning in writing and speaking. Each of the giggly actors shares two lines - "I'm in ninth grade" and "Are you talking to me?"

At Goucher College in Towson, author Madison Smartt Bell has been teaching creative writing for nearly 20 years. That's a lot of short stories - which often are long on drama and depressing themes. He once had a student who "got his jollies" by shocking the class with pornographic and violent writing. He was harmless, if annoying. More common are writers who reveal their own problems. "When I get convincing suicide stories, I try to intervene," Bell said. "You want to go up to that person and say, `What's up with this?

From Monday to Thursday, he uses a 43-year-old Parker 51 fountain pen purchased in England to write fiction. Fridays are reserved for a Montblanc fountain pen, a gift from a Spanish friend, to write nonfiction essays. "I always write my first drafts in ink. The flow of ink on paper still pleases me, and as my friend, novelist Anne Tyler, says, it's `muscular cursive,'" said John Barth, a veteran Maryland writer whose first novel, The Floating Opera, was published in 1957. Barth, 76, taught English and creative writing at the Johns Hopkins University for 22 years before he and his wife, Shelly, who was on the faculty of St. Timothy's School for years, retired in 1995.

MARY FITZMAURICE BOYLE, beloved teacher at Glen Burnie High School for 31 years before her retirement in 1975. She passed away on March 12, 2006. She moved to the Charlestown Retirement Community in 1999 after residing in Linthicum for fifty-five years. Visitation will be held at the family owned Singleton Funeral Home, 1 Second Ave SW (at Crain Hwy) Glen Burnie on Tuesday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 pm. A mass of Christian burial will be held on Wednesday at 9 AM at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church.

Longtime arts patron Doris E. Patz was asked to present creative-writing awards to 14 students from Baltimore County schools last night. But to her surprise, the 93-year-old Pikesville woman, who founded the competition, also was honored. Calling her a "Baltimore County treasure," Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. announced that the writing program was being renamed the Doris E. Patz Creative Writing Awards. Patz, a former concert violinist and writer, was appointed to Baltimore County's Arts and Sciences Commission in 1992.

Arts, writing workshops offered at St. John's St. John's College will offer several fine arts workshops on the Annapolis campus from Feb. 8 to May 7. All programs are open to the public. The following classes are scheduled on weekday evenings or weekend mornings: Creative writing, nonfiction, led by Laura Oliver. The class explores writing through short stories and essays, and critiquing participants' submitted short stories, personal essays, novel chapters and memoirs. Creative writing, fiction, led by Lynn Schwartz.

Arts, writing workshops offered at St. John's St. John's College will offer several fine arts workshops on the Annapolis campus from Feb. 8 to May 7. All programs are open to the public. The following classes are scheduled on weekday evenings or weekend mornings: Creative writing, nonfiction, led by Laura Oliver. The class explores writing through short stories and essays, and critiquing participants' submitted short stories, personal essays, novel chapters and memoirs. Creative writing, fiction, led by Lynn Schwartz.

Kate A. Lassiter does well in class and on the softball field. But one of her favorite activities is helping the elderly."I like old people," said the 17-year-old senior at Joppatowne High School. "Theyknow so much. Some kids think old people forget what it's like to be17 or 18. That's not true."Lassiter, who will be graduating fourth in her class with a 3.7 grade-point average, used to spend a lot of time helping the area's senior citizens play bingo at the Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church on Joppa Farm Road.

Rather than solicit New Year's resolutions, we've asked Baltimore area poets and others to contribute haiku, the 17-syllable form of verse traditional to Japan, that speak to the year ahead. Each haiku (and near haiku, give or take a syllable or two) represents a dream, a hope, a concern; for home, community, the world. Some are joyful; others reflect guarded optimism or despair. Compact and portable, the haiku below give readers a thought to carry with them on the journey through 2005.

The Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie thinks of Baltimore as "an old woman who's resigned and not very happy, who used to be very beautiful and is aware she no longer is very beautiful and is not very happy about it." Adichie lived here on University Parkway for about a year while she worked on getting her master's degree in creative writing from the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars. She'll be back in the area tonight, reading from her much-acclaimed debut novel Purple Hibiscus at Barnes & Noble, at the Avenue at White Marsh.