New Editor in Town

Hello, writers! My name is Lauren and I am a first-year graduate student in the Writing, Rhetoric, & Discourse program. I have been a part of the Writing Center at DePaul University as a peer writing tutor since 2022 when I was an undergraduate. I am stepping into the new role of Publications Student Leader as the blog editor to oversee both the UCWbL blog and The Orange Couch literary magazine, which is a very exciting step for me as I continue my writing studies. In addition these roles, I am also an editor with DePaul’s annual anthology Blue Book.

Some of the works that inform my writing can be defined as introspective, interpersonal, and occasionally mystical:

• The Passion According to G.H. by Clarice Lispector
• To the Lighthouse by Virginia Wolf
• Encounters by Kai Erickson
• “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe
• Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

My Goals for the Blog

• I would love to expand upon the New Media section of the UCWbL blog as genre innovation, and talking about it, is a creative and rhetorical practice close to my heart. I would love to see blog posts from conributors about the new ways the incorporate their writing skills into other passionate interests of their lives– like a post that discusses how to craft a Letterboxd review, or this post that introduces a new multimodal digital platform that produces great stories and games (with examples too)!

• I am also eager to work with the Social Justice section as I believe that writing is a tool not only to process, but also communicate self-expression and self-preservation. I think this process occurs both inside and outside of academic writing and I am curious to see how others writers have experienced this, both the limitations and affordances it can bring.

Get to Know Me a Little Better

The featured image on this post is a painting by Hilma af Klimt, one of my favorites. I was able to see her exhibit “What Stands Behind the Flowers” this past summer at the MoMA (some photos down below). It is not just long walks that inspire my writing, but the nature I see as well. I love to connect with people over music and cooking or baking so if you ever wanna share, just come say hi!