The Virginia G. Piper
Center for Creative Writing

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Mary Lee

Desert Nights, Rising Stars Writers Conference Scholar 2018

As I reflect on my experience at the 2018 Desert Nights, Rising Stars Writers Conference, I am reminded once again of why I choose to write—why I turn to language above all else as an ultimate means to world-processing and truth-making. Specifically, I was challenged during the conference to see language anew through the eyes of wonder, approaching its physicality and complexity with honesty—a sense of openness for the tenderness that is so often required of us as writers.