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Travelogue: Until Next Time

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by Christine McSwain & Emma Stough


May 9-10
Bahrain-Frankfurt-Charlotte-Charleston

It’s hard to believe that our trip to Bahrain has come to an end. Our final day in the country, we got up nice and early to head to the souk (marketplace) for a delicious Arabic breakfast and shopping. The market was a vibrant array of goods—spices, clothing, jewelry, candies. The highlight was the Hussain Moh’d Showaiter Sweets, where we tasted Bahraini halwa, a jelly-type candy with cashews soaking in the syrup—a treat so delectable that a box of it came all the way back to the United States with us!

Next, we returned to the University of Bahrain to conclude our two-day workshop. Students shared poems they had written based on our prompts and their work truly came from the heart. It was gratifying to watch and listen to these students read their name poems, a decidedly personal work to share. The students were a little more reluctant to share their stories aloud, so Professor Lott offered to read them to the group himself, revealing the writer at the end of the work. This exercise was particularly interesting in its structure—750 words which included a list of colors, textures, nouns, verbs, and an opening line which the students decided on collectively in our first session. Watching these students hear their work read aloud and praised for the things they were doing well was amazing to watch.  Two students admitted that this was their first time ever writing a story, and to have given them this opportunity to try something new—maybe something they were afraid to do before—and watch their pleasure and excitement as we encouraged them to continue, to be unafraid of writing, was a reward that defies description.

After the workshop, we adjourned to a classroom to snack and chat with the workshop attendees, some of whom included our students. It was a joy to end our time at the University in this way, just talking about writing and life. These students have evolved from familiar faces through Skype into what we hope will be lifelong friends. It was such a privilege to meet them in their element, and to watch as they grew in their writing. Telling our students goodbye was incredibly difficult, but we all promised to stay in touch and to never forget the bond we created through this program.  We look forward to a continuous and evolving community of writers at the University of Bahrain and across seas.

Our last session at the University was quite special. We met with a foundation English class with students who were just beginning their studies in English. Their teacher informed us of their amazing progress in the language, having started the semester writing 25-word essays and ending their class with writing 250-word essays. The students were shy about writing poetry in English at first, but once they warmed up to the idea they were surprised at their own abilities. During our session, each student wrote a cinquain and began work on a second poem.  Seeing these students express themselves through poetry despite their limited experience with English, was incredibly fascinating and proved just how unifying it is to write from our hearts, no matter what our native language.

Late on the 9th, we departed our hotel a final time for Bahrain International Airport. And finally, after a long long day of travel—to Frankfurt, then Charlotte, then finally Charleston—we arrived in the United States. To have been given the opportunity to travel to this beautiful country and meet so many wonderful people was one we will appreciate our whole lives. Our students told us again and again, “Don’t forget us.”  We doubt we ever could. Thank you to Haneen, Zaynab, Maria, Eman, Kawther, Zahra, Hafsa, Nayla, Aimen, Batrishia, Batool, and Maryam: you welcomed us into your country and made us feel at home. You’re all incredible writers and we can’t wait to hear about the beautiful things you all do with your talents!

Thanks also to Bret Lott: we are so grateful that you made it possible for us to have this incredible experience. It has allowed us to grow as students, writers, future educators, and—perhaps most importantly—as human beings.

Thanks to those of you that have followed along on this international journey! We have enjoyed writing to you.

Until next time—
Christine & Emma

Congratulations to Our First Cohort

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This afternoon the College of Charleston will confer its first MFA in Creative Writing degrees. From bottom left, our first cohort: Catherine McCullough (Poetry), Charlotte Shea (Fiction), Kieran Kramer (Fiction), Alex Eaker (Fiction), Nick Plasmati (Fiction), Josh Lowder (Poetry), Charlie Baker (Fiction), Bradley Becker (Fiction), Laura Cannon (Fiction), and Angela Pilson (Poetry). Heartiest love and congratulations to these formidable writers!

Image by Dr. Emily Rosko

Travelogue: Teaching and Learning

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by Christine McSwain & Emma Stough

Bret Lott, Christine McSwain, & Emma Stough have gone to meet our friends at the University of Bahrain. Follow their progress here!

May 8
Bahrain

We began this morning at the Modern Knowledge School, where we met with high school students who had been nominated for the class by their teachers for excelling in English. In the workshop we and Professor Lott guided them through writing prompts in both poetry and fiction. Though they were quiet at first, the students became more outspoken and eager to contribute as the workshop went on. We enjoyed this chance to visit another Bahraini school and meet younger students with promising futures in creative writing ahead of them.

After the workshop at the Modern Knowledge School, we headed back to our hotel for an interview with Bahrain TV. Professor Lott and we two gave interviews about the program and about our writing lives. We will keep you updated if our appearance goes viral in the future.

In the afternoon, we traveled to the Arabian Pearl Gulf School to conduct a workshop with local teachers on the ways we have taught creative writing to our students here in Bahrain. This workshop provided a unique opportunity to collaborate with teachers in Bahrain from all sorts of countries and backgrounds. From a learning perspective, we were intrigued to watch Professor Lott teach a group of teachers about teaching. Being a part of these workshops in general has given us great insight into the teaching of creative writing–as has this program in general–and for that we are very thankful.

Our last meeting of the evening was a lucky one. Former US Ambassador to Bahrain, William Roebuck, just happened to be in the country this week and we were able to meet up with him briefly to catch up. Ambassador Roebuck served as the US Ambassador to Bahrain when Professor Lott made his first trip here two years ago, and it was surely a gratifying experience to meet again after the success of this program.

Tomorrow will be our last day in Bahrain! Our time here has gone by so quickly, and we plan to make the most out of our final day here. It has been an incredible experience thus far, and we are so grateful for the opportunity to travel here–especially for the opportunity to meet with our students in real life. That’s the most important part of this journey we will never forget!

Until then–
Christine & Emma

Travelogue: The Writers’ Circle

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by Christine McSwain & Emma Stough


Bret Lott, Christine McSwain, & Emma Stough have gone to meet our friends at the University of Bahrain. Follow their progress here!

May 7
Bahrain

What a long and rewarding day! We began by returning to the University of Bahrain to conduct the first of two workshop sessions with students. There was a great turnout, mostly with students not already in the program coming to experience this short session with us and Professor Lott. We did some in-class writing exercises and had them share their quickly-written cinquains aloud and got some interesting and thoughtful results from them.  It was great to see just how many students at the university are interested enough in writing to take time out of their busy exam schedules to sit and work with us for a couple of hours. We will meet again for a second workshop on Wednesday.

From our workshop we went to the United States Embassy, where we met with US Ambassador Justin Siberell. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take photos during our meeting but the experience was quite remarkable. We sat with Ambassador Siberell in his office and told him about our wonderful Bahraini students, specifically their dedication to writing and publishing their works in Under the Bahraini Sky.  Ambassador Siberell was a gracious host and our conversation was warm and enlightening. It was an honor to be invited into the embassy and to talk about the impact this program has had on the students here in Bahrain and how much it means to us at the College of Charleston.


Next we went to the Bahrain National Museum. The architectural design of the building was stunning, and particularly intriguing was the gigantic aerial map of Bahrain printed on the floor of the first level. The photograph portrayed every part of the country in relatively intimate detail, so much so that our Embassy guide Ali showed us his childhood home. The museum had fascinating exhibits on the long history and traditions of Bahrain, and there was a particularly neat room with ancient documents and manuscripts, including some gorgeous pearl-inlaid Qurans.


Our final event of the day was a meeting with the Bahrain Writers’ Circle at Mashq Art Gallery. This event was particularly unique because some of our students from the university also attended! Five of our students were able to attend and were gracious enough to read again from the journal. Professor Lott and the two of us also got a chance to share some work. Afterwards there was a question and answer session with members of the Writers’ Circle. Our students answered some questions as well and we were proud to see them engaging so confidently with this established group of writers. It was a wonderful experience to get to speak with members of this group, and to give our students the chance to discover another community of writers right here in Bahrain.

Now we will eat spaghetti in bed—room service is a gift after such a long day. Good night from the Middle East.

Until then–
Christine & Emma

Travelogue: Under the Bahraini Sky

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by Christine McSwain & Emma Stough

Bret Lott, Christine McSwain, & Emma Stough have gone to meet our friends at the University of Bahrain. Follow their progress here!

 

May 6
Bahrain

This morning we finally got a chance to visit the University of Bahrain, the institution that our students attend. The campus was lush and sprawled with greenery and beautiful architecture. Our first engagement was a ceremony for our students with officials from the university. We were greeted by University of Bahrain dignitaries in the President’s office alongside our students, who were honored by both U of B and the College of Charleston for their work in this program. The president of the university, Dr. Riyad Y Hamzah, presented us with gifts–beautiful fountain pens with the university’s name etched in both English and Arabic.  We presented the president with a silver rice spoon, a distinctly Charleston gift.

Our students were awarded their certificates of achievement and finally given copies of Under the Bahraini Sky, the long-awaited journal showcasing the fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction they’ve done this semester. Their excitement at finally holding the journal in their hands was evident–it’s the accumulation of a lot of hard work, creativity, and dedication on their part, and was so rewarding for us to witness their happiness at seeing the final product.

Following this meeting, we moved to another building for the reading portion of the event. After we introduced each of our classes individually, the students gave readings of work featured in the journal. They all did magnificent jobs, reading with poise, passion–and wonderful projection! It was incredible to hear their voices reading the work they had put so much of themselves into over this past semester. After the reading, we promised them all that our little community of writers doesn’t have to be over even though the program is. It is our hope that these cross-continental connections formed through writing, teaching, and learning will continue far into the future.

After a bit of rest at the hotel, our embassy guide Ali took us to Al Cat Coot, the tiny restaurant that serves what Bret Lott claims is best shawarma he’s had while in Bahrain.  We inexperienced Americans ate ours quite messily, and the servers brought over forks– a clear sign of our inexpertise in proper swarama etiquette. We greatly enjoyed this traditional meal and our time spent with Ali, who has taken great care of us during this trip.

Tomorrow we’ll conduct writing workshops at the University of Bahrain and end our day meeting with the Bahrain Writer’s Circle.  We eagerly await establishing more writerly connections in Bahrain and bonding over our shared passion for language and storytelling.

Until then–
Christine & Emma

Travelogue: First Day in Bahrain

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by Christine McSwain & Emma Stough

Bret Lott, Christine McSwain, & Emma Stough have gone to meet our friends at the University of Bahrain. Follow their progress here!

May 5

Bahrain

We started bright and early this morning with a tour by the Dilmuni Couple, Mariam and Hussain. We began with a traditional Arabic breakfast at Emmawash. Pictured are the many dishes we enjoyed this morning, including fresh bread, chicken livers, balaleet (sweet noodles with egg on top) and for dessert, lugaimat, a sweet, bite-sized pastry soaking in date syrup. We washed it all down with hot chai tea.

From breakfast, our tour headed to Bani Jara Weaving Textiles. There, one of the two brothers who owns the studio was weaving a woman’s dress. We got to observe the intricate and dexterous process of weaving while sipping delicious Arabic coffee. From the textile studio we stopped off on the side of the road to gaze out across ancient burial mounds, the historic graves contrasted by the modern cityscape in the distance. In the village of A’Ali we visited a pottery shop where we watched men molding vases effortlessly from clay.

The final leg of our tour took us to Shaikh Ebrahim Center in Muharraq. There we walked white-washed alleys overshadowed by palm trees and ducked into several beautiful homes dedicated to certain aspects of Bahraini culture including journalism, weaving, coffee, poetry and more.  As we walked, a call to prayer echoed through the alleys. We ended the tour at an open air cafe and enjoyed refreshing glasses of saffron juice and lemon mint–the latter of which is a new favorite for us both.

After a quick rest at the hotel we headed to Freej Bin Rashdan for a delicious meal with our students from this semester. What an incredible feeling it was to walk into a restaurant halfway across the world and see familiar faces. While it was almost surreal to meet these students in real life, we soon discovered they are just as full of life and laughter as they were on Skype. We eagerly await tomorrow morning, when our students will read their work in a ceremony dedicated to this international writing program.

Until then–

Christine & Emma

Travelogue: Charleston to Bahrain: Layover in London

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by Christine McSwain & Emma Stough

Bret Lott, Christine McSwain, & Emma Stough have gone to meet our friends at the University of Bahrain. Follow their progress here!

May 4, 2018
London Heathrow

On May 3rd the two of us and Bret Lott flew out on a quick hour-long flight from Charleston to Charlotte. From Charlotte, we took a not-so-quick-8-hour jaunt from Charlotte for London–and here we are on May 4th, safe and sound in England! Our brief British excursion has so far included some classic English breakfasts (as pictured below) and lots of fun accents. How about the way the British say ‘literally,’ right? Fun! No sightings of George, Charlotte, or the Queen yet. Our layover here in London is four hours long, so we’re keeping ourselves awake with coffee and people-watching. Great future writing material.

Though we are exhausted and discombobulated (fifteen letter word there!) by time zones, we eagerly await the final leg of our journey to Bahrain. We are beyond excited to finally meet the students we’ve been working with this semester and give them copies of the journal of their work we published for them! The student writing in the journal is outstanding and we couldn’t be prouder of what they have accomplished. It will be an honor to meet them in their beautiful country and get to collaborate with them in person.

When we’re finally in Bahrain and settle into the hotel, we’ll write another post.

Cheers–

Christine & Emma

 

Meet McKayla Robbin: Poet, First-Year MFA Candidate, and Recipient of the Woodfin Fellowship

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McKayla Robbin has called Charleston home more than once.

“I’ve been living in Charleston on and off since 2002—I can’t stay away!”

McKayla, a 2012 graduate of The College of William and Mary, has also lived in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and California. In 2016 McKayla published we carry the sky, a book of short-form feminist poetry, and it has since been turned into a short film as well as featured in PBS Newshour, Bustle, and Skirt! Magazine. She returned to Charleston in 2017 to attend the MFA program. In a city she describes as “the perfect haven for artists,” the long blocks and long beaches offer literal ways to create new work.

“To get past writer’s block, all I have to do is step out the door and explore the city.”

Such walks led McKayla to the door of the MFA program, and within she has encountered the kind of community she has always sought, and sought to establish. “Everyone is truly supportive of one another’s art, which makes ‘the writing process’ less scary and more fun. Professors and peers have really encouraged me to take risks and put my art out there!”

In this small program, McKayla has found an energy around which her efforts can revolve and broaden. Her efforts include continual submission of her work, and extend to her interest in teaching and activism.

“I’d love to teach creative writing, either at the high school or college level. I want to help make poetry accessible to people who might not already consider themselves typical ‘poetry-lovers.’ I’m also really interested in poetry as a form of activism and as a vehicle for change-making; I want my poetry to contribute to these larger social conversations.”

McKayla embodies the possibilities the program enables. Through an award like the Woodfin Fellowship, McKayla wants to enlarge her work, and her work to enlarge the realm of poetry. This ambition requires McKayla to want poetry to require even more of poets. It’s a great thought to take on a walk.

Meet Emma Stough: Prose Writer, First-Year MFA Candidate, and Recipient of the Woodfin Fellowship

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Emma Stough felt the pull of Charleston through the phone. 

“I remember talking to Bret Lott during the decision-making process. He described the view from his office window: the pastel buildings and the Spanish Moss. I remember thinking, okay, I could picture myself among all that.”

Emma came to Charleston from Rock Island, Illinois, where she completed her Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing and Graphic Design at Augustana College.

To complete this picture of her interests, Emma mentions photography as her primary hobby.

While deciding which MFA program to attend, Emma tried to assemble her impressions of the Lowcountry.

“I was initially wary of the year-long warmth in Charleston (unpopular opinion, I know!) having grown up in the Midwest, but I have been especially appreciative of the short, mild winter.”

Having left her colder comfort-zone for brighter climes, Emma has found her new setting confounding, in the sunniest sense: “I am still frequently stopped by the reality of living in such a beautiful city and landscape—sometimes I have to remind myself the Atlantic is just a drive away.”

Emma now says, safely, “Coming to this coastal, vibrant city from a flat Midwest suburb has been the ultimate ‘change of scenery,’ which is exactly what I had in mind.”

The program itself has framed Emma’s new and expanding perspective: “I was intrigued by the idea of being in such a young program and being able to be a part of something that would no doubt grow and evolve during my two years. From there, I saw the impressive faculty and coastal location and was more than convinced that I would benefit from pursuing an MFA at CofC.”

In her time here, Emma has worked as an Editorial Assistant for Crazyhorse, and has received a Teaching Grant to travel to the University of Bahrain. The “change of scenery” continues. 

As Emma’s place in the program has gained such quick focus, both sharp and broad, she has also found space to step back, breathe, and admit, “Having just come out of undergrad, my professional goals are pretty fuzzy at this point. I know writing is going to be involved in some capacity—whether I move towards teaching, publishing, or something else entirely. I wanted to pursue an MFA to continue growing in the craft while I figured out my professional future.”

In this space we foresee more from Emma. Look for her in the foreground.