On Tuesday, November 6, at 7:15 p.m. in the Bate building, the Creative Writing faculty sponsored a reading to raise money for the Afghan children through U.N.I.C.E.F.

Julie Fay opened with a poem entitled "After School," about her eight-year-old daughter, who is also an aspiring poet.  She also read the poem "Genesis," which speaks of her daughter asking the "big questions" of life.  Fay also read several poems set in a small village in France having to do with the anti-globalization sentiments there.

Next up was Luke Whisnant, who read a piece of flash fiction, "Mexican Carwreck."  This story has to do with the false assumptions people make about others of a different ethnicity.  Especially memorable was a humorous quote from a man who had witnessed the wreck, "Hell, yes, you can quote me, but no photographs.  I got a microchip in me that breaks cameras.  You think I'm foolin' but I'm not."

Bob Siegel read an excerpt from his new screenplay, "After the Rain," which features a baseball / love scene between Sam, a sportswriter, and Clauda, whose husband, a soccer player named Hugo, has been dead for several years.  Siegel read a romantically entertaining scene in which Sam gives Clauda play-by-play highlights of the 1960 World Series game between the Pirates and the Yankees.

Then followed Brett Hursey, who read a poem inspired by Jeff Stewart -- "Aquaman" -- comparing Aquaman's useless powers with a man's inadequate plumbing skills.  By far the funniest poem read all night was Hursey's "Body Bag," about a man walking around without his skin.

Bill Hallberg read part of his new novel Van Gogh's Ear, in which the narrator speaks of the cynicism he feels concerning the events of Christmas, while at the same time searching for a genuine, sincere meaning that others seem to experience on this occasion.  This story was in part derivative of the words Hallberg and his former schoolmates would put to traditional Christmas carols.

Pat Bizzaro read several poems having to do with issues of faith, including, "Waiting at Church," "Tailor," "The Man in the Tree," and "Chef."  "The Man in the Tree" was about a child trying to get his father down from a tree.  Each time the child would almost reach his father, his father would climb a little higher.  This poem seems to speak of the seemingly unreachable-ness of God.

Peter Makuck ended the reading by presenting two poems concerning commercial fishing and the dangers of the sea.  The first,"Off Season,"was an elegy to men who had died at sea leaving behind "four mothers turned into widows."  The second, "Pretty," goes beyond the superficial beauty of a fishing boat on the sea and takes a deeper look into sea fishing.

Tuesday night's reading was wonderfully enjoyable and demonstrated the remarkable talent of the E.C.U. Creative Writing faculty.