The Ever-Evolving Paper Hearts Workshop

Versions of the Paper Hearts Workshop have invaded the Take 5 Lounge since 2006. It started as a Valentine’s-Day-related read-off, with members of the Madonna community reading aloud classic, romantic poetry and prose. For the 2008 event, Writing Center tutors also collaborated on a flight of fancy titled “Love Struck: A Tale of Fowl Play.” (Some of our listeners thought the story was a yolk, but we knew it was egg-cellent.) You'll see the story later in this issue.

The event morphed into the “Valentine’s Day Research/Write-a-thon,” and Librarian and Archivist Carol Vandenberg and I teamed up for a 24-hour event. It seemed like a good idea at the time: Researchers and writers staying up all hours, writing their fingers to the bone, synapses sizzling through the quiet night hours. But it wasn’t long before Carol and I had to face the facts: 1). Ping-pong playing and sleeping on couches held more allure than bony fingers, 2) synapses don’t sizzle at 3 a.m., and 3) Carol and I were—and still are—too old for this.

So our event went from 24 hours to 12 hours to 10 hours to eight hours to six hours. In another couple of years, it may be a 10-minute interlude during the lunch hour, but we hope not.

The Paper Hearts Workshop (renamed by Adjunct Professor and Writing Center Specialist Marian Gonsior) invites the Madonna community to get help with their research and writing projects, practice reading aloud to an audience, and familiarize themselves with some of the classic love poems and stories.

Besides the academic aspects, the Paper Hearts Workshop features a round-robin story, Valentine’s-Day-related prompts, and fabulous prizes such as wax lips, Valentine-shaped sunglasses, mugs, and a $25.00 Barnes & Noble gift certificate (grand prize). Finally, we offer a “Write-your-own-love/breakup-poem” workshop in an effort to meet everybody’s poetry (and relationship) needs.
 

-- Frances E. FitzGerald