School of Social Work holds 25th Annual Creative Writing Seminar for Helping Professionals

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Mercedes Bern-Klug
Mercedes Bern-Klug

The School of Social Work held its 25th Annual Creative Writing Seminar for Helping Professionals in July on the University of Iowa campus.

The 4-day event was organized by Mercedes Bern-Klug, an associate professor in the School of Social Work, part of the UI College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. Bern-Klug is also the director of the Aging Studies Program and a Hartford Faculty Scholar. Writing skills and individual coaching sessions for participants was provided by Ellen Szabo, adjunct instructor in the School of Social Work and founder of Write Now.

Ellen Szabo
Ellen Szabo

Aimed toward professionals in the human services field, the annual event teaches creative writing as a professional tool to promote personal healing and social change. Each day of the seminar included guest presentations, writing instruction and practice, peer critique sessions, and individual coaching.

The seminar consistently draws a diverse crowd of writers from across the country, with participants ranging from beginners attending their very first writing workshop to published writers. 

The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.