My Summer at Yale

 by Paula Gail Benson

Calhoun Residence Hall

When I visited with friends at Thanksgiving last year, I had the opportunity to tour the Yale University campus. For many years, I had read about its famed drama school and hoped I might someday have the chance to study there.

A Calhoun Hall Gate

A few months later, I noticed a message author Lori Rader-Day posted on Facebook. She announced she would be teaching in Yale’s summer writing program and encouraged people to attend. I looked up the information on the website. Yale offered the program to anyone over the age of eighteen and gave it in two consecutive week-long sessions during the month of June. The first session was a general overview of writing craft, and the second was a genre-specific study course. You had the option of signing up for one or both weekly sessions. For the second session, you had to choose a single concentration in one of the following areas: fiction, nonfiction, biography, memoir, children and young adult fiction, historical fiction, science fiction, romance, mystery, poetry, playwriting, or screenwriting. While the second session offered some lectures for all participants, each genre course consisted of twelve hours of instruction and was limited in the number of students. The faculty was impressive. In addition to Lori Rader-Day, it included Sybil Baker, Louis Bayard, Lary Bloom, Elizabeth Hand, Stephanie Hart, Jonathan Levi, Sarah Darer Littman, and Julia Quinn.

My Dorm Room

I submitted an application for the second session and was thrilled to learn I had been accepted in Lori Rader-Day’s class. I decided to stay in Calhoun Residence Hall, to have the “full” Yale experience. I was assigned a spare room (single bed, desk, and closet--no hangers unless we brought them--also, we made our own beds) on the third floor, sharing a common room and bathroom with five other students. To gain access, we carried a card that let us enter the outer gates and doors, and a key, for the interior rooms, including the bath. There was no air conditioning, but a window had been opened. By evening, the cool air filtered through, making me glad I had a blanket!

Lecture Hall

The first lecture was in a timbered classroom where we heard the three rules (no alcohol, smoking, or propping open doors) conveyed by using the rhetorical triangle. We heard the facts (if the rules were broken, we would be dismissed), had an empathetic appeal (protection of students under legal drinking age and of university and private property), and could assess the speaker’s credibility when we heard about previous sessions where thefts had occurred due to the door latches being taped for entry. We learned from a campus security officer [Note: Yale had the first college police department in the country and its standards are very competitive. This officer was selected from 2,000 applicants.] that the campus had over 5,000 summer students and a police

response time of one to two minutes.

Our mystery writing class was made up of only seven students, and we bonded from the start. Before we arrived, Lori asked us what we wanted to learn and tailored her lessons to include all the information we had requested. The first night, we all sat at the same table during the opening reception. Each day followed with three hours of instruction. In addition to talking about craft, Lori had us read selections from books that she felt illustrated excellent development of characters, settings, pace, and dialogue. Then, we considered portions of each other’s work, emphasizing the strengths we found, but also noting where we had questions. And, perhaps most valuable of all, each of us had a private conference with Lori where she reviewed the material we had submitted. Her recommendations were so beneficial and gave me new insight into my characters. She helped me discover what I was doing right and where I needed to improve. And, did I mention, Lori Rader-Day ROCKS!!!!!!!

Trumball Cafeteria

We had meals together with other students and teachers in Trumball Residence Hall’s cafeteria, which looked very much like the dining hall at Hogwarts. I was impressed that among our food options were Shepherds’ Pie, mussels, spaghetti, and pizza. And, one night, we had a cook out.

Special lectures featured Richard Deming, John Crowley, Colum McCann, and Aaron Tracy. In the evenings, the genre instructors offered readings at the Yale Book Store. One afternoon, several classes gathered together to listen as students read from their work. Every moment was inspiring and completely delightful.

Victoria Rinkerman, who had the daunting responsibility of running the program, provided a welcoming atmosphere and never seemed to meet a problem she couldn’t resolve. She and her staff were truly awesome! And, Lori Rader-Day was phenomenal. No wonder her novels have won all those awards!

If you have an interest, I would encourage you to consider the program for next summer. It has given me a new perspective, renewed enthusiasm, and a new group of valued colleagues.

 

Me -- a Yalie!

Have you attended a writing program that you found inspiring?