Nine Wittenberg students flashed their creative flare as they participated in Fact in Fiction’s first annual Flash Fiction Showcase on Wednesday, April 23, at 9 p.m.
By definition, flash fiction is a style of fiction that is generally under 1,000 words, according to Keri Heath, secretary of Fact in Fiction.
The showcase was held in Founders as a Witt Wednesday event and gave Fact in Fiction club members the opportunity to perform their flash fiction pieces to an audience of about 30 people. Overall, 10 pieces were read.
Several club members had been perfecting their pieces for months during club meetings in preparation for the event. In preparing for the showcase, participating club members also had to practice the performance aspects of a showcase such as slow reading and proper annunciation.
“For me, I really enjoyed seeing the members of the club get up there and present their pieces,” said Heath. “Some had never presented their pieces in public before, so it was great to see them get so excited about sharing their pieces with other people.”
Several other members of the club said their favorite part of the showcase was being able to share their work with other members of the Wittenberg community.
“It was a neat experience to read my own work to a room full of people; it was something I had never done before, and after that night, it is something I want to do more often,” said Camila Quinones, a freshman club member. “It felt good to know that people appreciated my work.”
Although the showcase also had an open mic portion for non-club members, only club members performed their pieces. Heath attributed the lack of non-club reader participation to lack of advertisement.
In addition to allowing students to present their flash fiction pieces, the showcase also was meant to attract new members to the club, according to Heath.
The club, which started Fall semester of 2013, meets every week and has hosted write-ins for National Novel Writing Month in November, as well as general write-ins.
“I really like having a community of writers that I can go to, having this designated time each week to sit down and write, and to be around other people who appreciate writing just as much as I do,” said Heath.
Club officers, Heath and Brook Brauer, president of Fact in Fiction, both expressed interest in holding showcases in the future, at least once a year. The pair also said that they would like to collaborate an event with Lyrical Content.
