'New Voice Authors' to showcase writers

Two new voices in writing will be traveling to Emporia State today. Tasha Haas and Dennis Etzel Jr. will be performing a selection of fiction writing and poetry as a part of this year’s visiting authors program.

“The New Voice Authors that are coming are visiting writers to ESU, and will be here to share their work and experiences as writers,” said Petra Darling, senior English major and member of the New Voice Authors student planning committee. “The writers visit the campus in order to educate students about the happenings in the literary world.”

New Voice Authors will be held from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in the Veterans Hall of Honor in the Memorial Union. The event is sponsored by the ESU Performing Arts board and the ESU creative writing department. Each year both organizations collaborate to bring a group of writings to the campus in hopes of educating future writers about the craft and as a means of inspiration for students and faculty.

The readings will be done in a performance style and students, faculty and the public are encouraged to come even if they are doubtful of spoken word performance.

“Those who enjoy performance seem to enjoy the readings,” said Kevin Rabas, English professor and event coordinator. “So, if you go out and hear bands from time to time, you might also like hearing a passionate poet or writer perform. Dynamic public readings are coming back into style.”

The two featured artists will share two very different writing styles. Haas is a multi-faceted artist who not only writes but is also recognized for her talents in music and the visual arts. Haas will share a selection of short fiction pieces.

“I write long, rhythmic short stories, often in first person, in which I attempt to create a hypnotic voice that will engage the reader,” Haas said.

Etzel embraces a new spoken word form of poetry. Etzel began seriously writing in college when a professor suggested that he carry around a journal and thesaurus to improve his writing skills.

“My journal became poems, and I took the poems to an open-mic poetry night where I met people who were reading-people like Rita Dove, Charles Bukowski, and Li-Young Lee,” Eztel said. “I thought, wow poets aren’t just dead white guys.”

Etzel’s poetry centers around environmental, social and personal concerns. Although he enjoys sharing his work with others, he said is looking forward to seeing some of the work that’s been done by ESU writing students.

“I love listening to others read their poetry, so I guess the sharing of my work is part of that dialogue,” Etzel said. “I am anxious to hear what Emporia’s students are writing.”

The New Voice Authors program is open to all ESU students, faculty, staff and the Emporia community. The event is free and all are encouraged to come.

“Not only is this a great program for any English major, but it is great for any student,” Darling said. “These writers speak about more than writing, and their lectures are often more enlightening to some aspect of everyone’s education.”