Through hosting regular writing workshops, The Fusion Review at LSU provides a low-pressure environment to cultivate creativity and a sense of community among growing authors at the University.
The Fusion Review was developed in the mid-2000’s as an online literary journal through the Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College. While the club was originally established as a platform for online publication, today it focuses more heavily on developing a creative writing community through weekly group discussion, said club president and English senior Saher Khan.
The organization’s digital journal can still be viewed online, but the group is not accepting submissions this semester, preferring to expand its member interaction and engagement, Khan said.
Both Khan and the club’s vice president, history senior Caitlyn Bender, have prior experience leading workshops. The duo mentors local youth at New South Story Lab — a weekly creative writing workshop for middle schoolers and high schoolers at the Goodwood Library. Their experience with the lab has ultimately given the pair the tools to convey and teach these concepts to students, Khan said.
This semester Khan and Bender developed an established curriculum for their meetings. Each week the pair present different writing concepts, such as how to write an alluring beginning or strengthening character development.
Other weeks, the club uses more physical methods to explore poetic dialogue, such as blackout poetry. Taking pages from old books, newspapers and even Trader Joe’s newsletters, attendees blacked out sections of text to form poems from the remaining words.
With a community of writers readily at hand, the club also offers an avenue for criticism and development, Khan said. Members are encouraged to bring in works that are in progress and use their weekly lessons to build upon it, or connect with other writers for ideas and feedback, she said.
“Writing alone can sometimes lead to some dead ends, so this is a great way to grow your work and yourself,” Khan said.
Ultimately, the club provides an imaginative environment for students of all disciplines to have fun, Khan said. While several members may have majors that require more formal, scholarly writing, The Fusion Review gives writers an outlet for their creativity, Khan said.
“The purpose of Fusion is for college students to have 45 minutes to an hour every week dedicated to learning more about the craft of creative writing with other writers,” she said.