Writers who teach, teachers who write
March 9Contrary to popular belief, the lives of professors do not revolve around the University campus. In the English department, three prolific professors have been making use of their personal time by writing new award-winning works of fiction and poetry On Monday evening in the Rabb Room of the Lincoln-Filene Center, professors Jay Cantor, Deborah Digges, and Jonathan Wilson shared excerpts from their published or soon-to-be-published works. In a room full of students, colleagues, and community members, the acclaimed authors read aloud various chapters, poems, and stories from their own recent and upcoming works. "Great Neck," a novel by Cantor, and "A Palestine Affair" by Wilson, both received accolades from "The New York Times Review of Books" in December of 2003, landing a spot on the editors' list of Notable Books. Digges is a well-established poet whose latest work, the poetry compilation "Trapeze," includes poems previously published in "The New Yorker" and "The Atlantic Monthly," among others. "Trapeze" will be available in stores next week. Digges' poetry selection included a poem she wrote as a wedding present to her now-deceased husband, "Solomon's Spoon," which described souls' reactions when told they could not bring their spoons with them into heaven. Freshman Jake Resnicow, who is in Digges' Advanced Poetry Workshop and attended the reading, was impressed at the output of Tufts professors: "It's really great that our professors have made such an impact on the literary community. It's quite impressive that they've written such esteemed works." Cantor's "Great Neck," a novel about a group of Long Island friends growing up in the 1960s and '70s, includes a chapter in which the group of friends, now college-aged, plot and implement a bomb explosion at an M.I.T. laboratory to protest the Vietnam War. Cantor read from a chapter which included featured its youthful characters discussing how to go about making a revolution, and how far they are willing to go. Donna Seaman of Booklist wrote in her review of "Great Neck," that Cantor is, "A bold and penetrating novelist dedicated to exploring the psychology of revolution." Cantor's ability as an author serves an important purpose in the classroom, according to freshman Caitlin Doering, a former student of Cantor's: "I think when you write books, you have a deeper understanding of authors' intentions when you read their works." Wilson also considers himself equally an author and a teacher. He began writing as a teenager and has written several published works. He is also the current chair of the English department. At the reading, Wilson chose to read not from his latest novel, but instead from a book of short stories entitled "An Ambulance is on the Way: Stories of Men in Trouble," which is due out next year. Despite the dramatic nature of "A Palestine Affair," Wilson showed his comedic side in his reading of a short story about a man pondering religion within the environs of everyday life, raising a number of chuckles from the audience. All three professors balance their careers as teachers and as authors. While Digges described herself as, "a poet who teaches," Resnicow lauded her skill as a teacher of poetry: "Professor Digges provides wonderful insight into writing and developing poetry. She is an excellent teacher."
