On Oct. 20, FSU to Mark Nation's First 'National Day on Writing'

The U.S. Senate has passed a resolution declaring October 20 as the National Day on Writing, making official the first-ever nationwide celebration of writing in all its myriad forms. The day’s centerpiece is an online “National Gallery of Writing” for public posting, viewing and posterity, filled with words of every kind from all who wish to share them.

Written-word fans from The Florida State University will be among the day’s most enthusiastic celebrants, and two have had a hand in its creation and promotion. Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada, a Florida State alumna, sponsored the Congressional resolution. Florida State Professor of English Kathleen Blake Yancey, the immediate past president of the day’s sponsoring body -- The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) -- is helping to promote the event on campus in the Department of English, where she directs the graduate program in Rhetoric and Composition.

“On Oct. 20, the FSU English department will host a celebration of writing in our Digital Studio, where we’ll be connecting with other writers around the country,” Yancey said. “We hope our faculty and students will stop by for some inspiration. Our department is known to be exemplary in our support of writing and widely acknowledged for our writing expertise and accomplishment, and we believe our National Day on Writing virtual gallery will make that plain for the world to see.”

All contributors are free to upload writing samples to the big National Gallery, which is hosted by the NCTE and intended to become an unmatched living archive of the art and importance of writing and the increasingly varied ways in which it is done and transmitted.

In addition, Florida State students and faculty in the English department are poised to take full advantage of the National Day on Writing option that permits groups to create and curate their own smaller galleries on the event’s Web site. The already up-and-running “Florida State University English Department Gallery” has four virtual wings that correlate with programs in the department: one for first-year composition; a second for rhetoric and composition; a third for writing about literature; and a fourth, for creative writing.

Almost anything goes when it comes to written words suitable for the National Day on Writing, whether crafted and delivered in classic, timeless forms such as pen-and-ink notes on formal stationery or in 21st-century electronic formats such as tweets or text messages.

Writing samples suitable for posting from now through June 1, 2010, and for public viewing starting Oct. 20, 2009, include stories, letters, essays, e-mail, recipes, blogs, poems, podcasts, journal entries and even audio, video and artwork. Everyone -- young and old, of all persuasions, from all walks of life, in every part of the nation -- is encouraged to participate.

Yancey said participants at Florida State and around the country would find instructions and ideas on the National Day on Writing Web site to guide individual contributors seeking to post to the NCTE-hosted National Gallery and groups who’d like to open their own.

The Congressional resolution cited these reasons, among others, for its support of the National Day on Writing:

People in the 21st century are writing more than ever before for personal, professional and civic purposes; the social nature of writing invites people of every age, profession and walk of life to create meaning through composing; more people in every occupation deem writing as essential and influential in their work; writers continue to learn how to write for different purposes, audiences and occasions throughout their lifetimes; developing digital technologies expand the possibilities for composing in multiple media at a faster pace than ever before; young people are leading the way in developing new forms of composing by using different forms of digital media; and effective communication contributes to building a global economy and a global community.

To learn more about Florida State’s Department of English activities in connection with the National Day on Writing, contact Yancey at kyancey@fsu.edu or (850) 645-6896.

Beginning in 2010, Yancey will become the new editor of College Composition and Communication (CCC), making The Florida State University home to the premier national journal for research in rhetoric and composition.