If you had peered into the MLK room, the 12 Whipple Writing Fellows would have captivated you alongside their audience for two hours with their showcase of writing. Beginning at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16, a summer of hard work for the 12 students culminated in the final presentations of their writing pieces from the summer fellowship.
The Whipple Writing Fellowship is one of three Whipple Programs and is a competitive, application-based fellowship for rising juniors and seniors. The selected fellows write, learn and collaborate during the summer and receive a stipend upon the conclusion of the program. Their work is published on the Whipple Website and shared with the larger community at the Whipple Writing Fellowship presentation.
Among those who participated in the program was senior Simone Zierten-Singleton, who said that throughout the program the students collaborated with each other, received guidance from English teachers Emma Siver and Evan Mousseau and had guest speakers.
“It was really an immersive way to strengthen our nonfiction narrative writing,” Zierten-Singleton said. “We were able to grow through really good advising and being able to engage with other writers.”
The night started when Jen Martin, Director of the Whipple Writing Program and Curriculum Coordinator of Social Studies, introduced the program and why it is important to her personally. David Whipple was an alum, and the Whipple programs were created in his honor.
“On a personal level, it’s a labor of love,” Martin said. “I loved David Whipple, who the program is named for, so on the most personal level, that’s what I get out of it.”
Following Martin’s introduction, Siver and Mousseau explained the philosophy behind the writing style encouraged in the program. Mousseau said that the goal of the program was to emphasize writing as a verb rather than a noun, shifting the focus to the creation of the writing, rather than the outcome.
Siver said the uniqueness of the program is that it stands as a genre of creative nonfiction. She said that it is still a means of storytelling, but one that uses personal experience and poetry to amplify the facts.
“What we discovered over the years is that you can’t do a creative nonfiction piece if you can’t connect to the topic in some way,” Martin said. “Sometimes it’s hyperpersonal or someone’s endlessly fascinated with a topic.”
The writers each read excerpts from their pieces around varying topics, starting with an entertaining reading about the local history of turkeys in Brookline. Some pieces got very personal and deep, such as Zierten-Singleton’s investigation into Black history in the Vietnam War and her family’s ties to the topic.
After the writers finished, Ben Whipple, a sponsor of the program and father of David Whipple, said he was happy he was to see the program’s progression and continued success.
The night came to a close with an interactive Q&A with the audience. The Whipple Fellows touched on managing the balance between creativity and non-fiction writing. Zierten-Singleton said writing about something she is passionate about has helped her realize that writing could be a lot of fun.
“What the kids get out of it is being able to write in a freer [way] and without all the pressures of school: writing for yourself and for your community,” Martin said.
Whipple said that being able to see writers like his son pursuing writing is really special. He said he enjoys seeing the program develop and knows his son would have truly enjoyed a program like the Whipple Fellowship.
“What we get out of it,” Whipple said, “is helping people who love to write, write.”
