Danika Campfield
The Corsair
If you are a Pensacola State College student with a knack for writing you should consider adding Creative Writing Poetry to your spring schedule next term. This course is taught by Professor Marian Wernicke, a lover of poetry, in Building 4 and meets once a week. The assignments for this class include writing a poem and reading it out loud to the class every week, as well as learning the art behind writing poetry.
Wernicke had been a teacher here at Pensacola State College for 25 years and retired in 2010 to return as an adjunct professor. For many years, Wernicke taught English composition and literature classes. It wasn’t until attending a two week poetry workshop, lead by Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Maxine Kumin that she considered teaching a poetry class herself. These experiences with workshopping her poems led Wernicke to a course at the University of West Florida, taught by Dr. O’Brien, on teaching Creative Writing Poetry. In this course Dr. O’Brien taught her how to grade and workshop poems written by students. Wernicke has now been teaching a Creative Writing Poetry class at Pensacola State College for more than 10 years.
To get the students comfortable enough with one another to read their original poems aloud to the class, Wernicke has the students ask and answer questions about each other on the first day. It is very important for the students to feel comfortable with each other in a work shopping environment. Workshopping means reading a poem you wrote aloud to the class and then having the class respond to your poem with praise, questions and suggestions on how to make it even better. Afterwards, you would go home and revise your poem and turn it in to Wernicke the next week. One major reason why this method works so well with students is because it isn’t competitive and positive feedback is always encouraged. Even the shyest of students enjoy this class.
Brooke Watson-Germann, a third year Pensacola State College student majoring in English, initially registered for this class due to her interest in poetry.
“The class is very laid back,” Watson-Germann said. “The assignments are fun; I like my classmates and Mrs. Wernicke is very kind and understanding.”
Cody Mitchell is majoring in music at Pensacola State College and decided to take this course to help him write lyrics for his rap songs. When asked how he felt about reciting his poetry to the class he said “I really enjoy it! Reading poetry aloud brings out a whole other aspect of poetry because how you deliver your words can change the whole poem. When you stress certain words you can make the poem more dramatic. There are so many ways to put even more emotion into your writing by using your voice.”
Musician Xzavyer Whittle is a second year English student at Pensacola State College who also decided to take Creative Writing Poetry this term.
“I wanted to take this class to help me write lyrics for my band,” Whittle said. “And also because I am very shy and wanted to become more comfortable with showing people my poems.”
Whittle, Mitchell and Watson-Germann all agree that the class is educational as well as enjoyable. While many students would feel uncomfortable taking a poetry course where you are required to read your original poetry to a group of people, these students insist that the environment of this class is very comfortable and welcoming to all. “
The class is very fun, I actually look forward to it the most out of all of my classes,” Whittle said. “What I like most about this class are my classmates. They are all very good at writing, very supportive and a pleasure to be around. We are almost like a family.”
As of now the class consists of fewer than 12 students. Spread the word about this wonderful course so that all of the poets on campus can enjoy it for many semesters to come!