Logo: Wesleyan University
  • Tools
    • WesPortal
    • Directory
    • Library
    • OneStop
    • WesConnect
    • Calendar
    • WesMaps
    • WFS
    • Moodle
    • EMS
    • GApps
  • About
  • Admission & Financial Aid
  • Academics
  • Campus
  • Athletics
  • Give
  • Students
  • Alumni
  • Parents

Creative Campus

Feed on
Posts
Comments
« Barbara Fenig ’11 reviews “Excavations: The Prints of Julie Mehretu”
First Look: “Lift Your Head”, Senior Thesis Production by Sarah Wolfe ’12 (Dec. 8-10) »

Nate Dolton-Thornton ’15 wins Freshman Writing Contest

Dec. 2, 2011 by ahunt

A post from The Wesleyan Writing Blog.

“I consider myself a writer in the same sense I consider myself a woodworker: I think it’s a wonderful craft that I would be incredibly content dedicating my life to, but as of right now I wouldn’t hire me out to make your table.”

Nate Dolton-Thornton ’15 sent us an engaging and eye-opening editorial about the other energy crisis: our unsustainable food production system. His contest-winning piece troubles the relevance of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway in the face of the more immediate needs of the masses and provides well-researched alternatives to current, inefficient agricultural techniques that rely too heavily on fertilizers and pesticides.

“While a few powerful world players have realized the potential magnitude of the impending catastrophe if our current unsustainable food systems continue,” Nate writes,  “their reactions seem to be based more on ensuring their own safety in light of coming calamities than on avoiding them. If any truly significant changes are to be made to actually negate this calamity, they must be made at a grassroots level, and they must be made soon.”

The hardest part about writing this piece, Nate told us, was making it controversial enough.  He initially envisioned it as a response to these issues in the form of fiction, but decided that hard facts would be preferable, in this case, to a more conceptual argument.  With the help of his writing mentor, Nate developed nuance in the editorial while retaining a strong argument for making responsible food choices and joining in the effort to promote organic farming.

Nate admires the science-fiction and fantasy writer Ursula K. Le Guin for “the clarity and elegance of her prose, the philosophical and imaginative content of her stories, and her attitude towards writing.” He is also a fan of the storytelling techniques of Camus, Dostoevsky, and Borge, and enjoys reading the works of Astrid Lindgren, E.B. White, Kenneth Grahame, A.A. Milne, most of C.S. Lewis, and Tolkien’s The Hobbit.

We’re looking forward to reading more works by the fabulous freshmen writers who have joined us on campus this year.  Nate’s advice to members of the class of ’15: Write, edit, write, and get a writing mentor!

Tags: Writing and Publications

Posted in Writing

Comments are closed.

    • Creative Campus

      • Creative Campus – About
      • Creative Campus – Blog
      • Creative Campus – Home
    • Reblogged

      • Middletown Patch
      • The Middletown Eye
    • The Center for the Arts

      • Center for the Arts – Blog
      • Center for the Arts – Box Office
      • Center for the Arts – Events
      • Center for the Arts – Facebook
      • Center for the Arts – Home
      • Center for the Arts – Twitter
    • Wesleyan University

      • Department of Dance Blog
      • Friends of the Davison Art Center Blog
      • Green Street Arts Center Blog
      • The Writing Workshop Blog
      • WesLive – Wesleyan's Community Blog
      • Writing at Wesleyan Blog
  • About

     
    Creative Campus

    There are 135 Posts and 15 Comments so far.

  • Categories

    • Community Engagement
    • Cooking
    • Dance
    • Film and Video
    • Food
    • Music
    • Student Groups
    • Studio Art
    • Theater
    • Uncategorized
    • Writing
  • Recent Comments

    • Maureen Coffey on Behind the Scenes with Muslim Women’s Voices
    • Sunu Puguh on Emma Gross ’15 reviews “Sundanese & Javanese Puppet Plays”
    • Lucie Douglass on Sarah Wolfe ’12 interviews Lily Haje ’13 about “Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights” (April 26-28)
  • Archives

    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • September 2014
    • April 2014
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
  • Meta

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org

Creative Campus © 2021 All Rights Reserved.


Wesleyan University

44 Wyllys Avenue
Middletown, CT 06451
60-111-1111

  • Contact Us
  • Copyright & Privacy

© 2014 Wesleyan University

Resources

  • Human Resouces
  • Library
  • ITS
  • Student Accounts
  • Residential Life
  • Career Center
  • Offices & Services

Find It

  • Employment
  • Directions
  • Give
  • Apply
  • Athletics
  • CFA
  • Events
  • Visit Wesleyan
  • WESU (radio)

Tools

  • Portfolio
  • Directory
  • Library
  • OneStop
  • Wesconnect
  • Calendar
  • WesMaps
  • WFS
  • Moodle
  • EMS
  • Gapps

Connect With Us

Facebook Twitter Flickr YouTube Tumblr Google Plus
iTunes U