Professors Joseph Plicka and Ned Williams of the English Department accompanied six students to Orem, Utah for the National Undergraduate Literature Conference. The conference was held at the Weber State University and has been held there for 30 years, and it is normally held on General Conference weekend, said Plicka.
Dokyung Ha, a junior English major from South Korea, said he liked getting to meet new people the most. “I had never seen English nerds all together like this before. It was nice to see people passionate about literature and poems.” She also mentioned how she didn’t meet any other people from Asia, which was intimidating at first, but after having a positive experience, showed her she could have a future in English studies.
Williams, who has taught at BYU-Hawaii since 1977, has been taking students to this conference for more than 10 years, according to Plicka. “It’s usually just a handful of students from just a few up to 10,” said Plicka. “It’s a small intimate gathering of undergraduate students. There are a few professors like Ned and I that are there as mentors.”
Plicka explained, “In the fall, students submit their papers. They can be critical essays about literature or creative writing such as stories, poems, and essays. If you get in, which you probably will, the school will subsidize your trip.”
Julia McConville, a junior English major from northern California, presented three different pieces of literature for the conference. She said, “The conference was well worth the time and energy that it took to get there. It was a really great experience that I know will pay off in the future.” McConville said she plans on going to the conference again next year.
Azar Nafisi, the author of the national bestseller “Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books,” attended this year along with Lynda Barry, a cartoonist, and Matthew Olzmann, a poet. Plicka said, “They get fairly well known and popular authors who come and speak. If your outgoing enough, you can have these great interactions with these writers that just doesn’t happen usually, especially at this level.
“The point is to give students a window into what it looks like to professionalize in English studies.”
Plicka continued, “Someone who is thinking about going to graduate school in the humanities or someone who isn’t sure if they want to go to graduate school but just wants to know what it would be like, this is a great opportunity to go and experience that.”
Williams has accompanied students alone in past years, but this year Plicka attended for the first time. Williams said, “I wasn’t sure what to expect. I wasn’t sure how great it would be, but I came away thinking it was really cool. I think it’s totally worth the university’s time and money to send people there to meet and be in a room with other people who take you seriously, and take your interest and your work seriously.
“Even you best friends probably aren’t that interested in talking about your English major and interest. If you go to this kind of conference, you’ll meet up with a bunch of people who care and want to talk to you about it. It’s a place to meet people who are going to professionalize in English and get a little bit of feedback on your work.”