Q&A with VCC creative writing instructor Kevin Spenst

What do you teach?
I teach Writing Sparks to Completion (CWRI 1123), a newer creative writing course that focuses on poetry but opens to other forms of writing.

What do you love about teaching?
I love how the classroom is a community writ small, a place where we test out, practice, and develop eloquences. It’s exciting to be part of that process. This means I could teach anything. I have, over the course of my life, taught business, drama, English Literature, and even yoga, but as I love poetry and creative writing the most, it’s what I’m most excited about teaching.

What is your current career?
I’m an author. My third book of poetry was published last year. Currently, I write reviews, conduct poetry interviews on co-op radio, give talks, and I’m working on my fourth book.

What is your best piece of advice for someone starting out in this industry?
Find a way to incorporate the craft of writing into the rhythm of your everyday life. For four years, I wrote a short-short story everyday. That helped get me started.

Who are your favourite authors?
James Joyce, Virginia Woolf and W.G. Sebald. Yes, the heavyweights!

What is your motto?
I do love Beckett’s “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”

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Spark your creativity this spring with a wide variety of courses from VCC Continuing Studies.