Holbrook '08 Develops Short Stories for Senior Honors Project

Given a writing assignment, even well-educated and literate college students sometimes struggle with what to say. They stumble over thesis statements, overuse the passive voice, or string together rambling paragraphs and awkward quotations.

But Alice Holbrook ’08, a creative writing major, wrote a different story when she embarked on her senior honors project “The Upper Room Discipline: Stories.”

Her collection (175 pages) of eight short stories was a year long project with the theme of devotion threaded throughout. “It is about religion, and sometimes it is about devotion to a relationship. I wanted to present a balance,” she says. “It is the fanatical need of searching for something. I wanted to bring out that continual path.”

A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Holbrook says her short stories are inspired by her parents and the family’s strong religious faith. “I have been going to church since I was really young, and it is still a major influence in my life.”

Having lived through the countless revisions of her honors project, Holbrook says she thinks the writing process and the process of having a religious or devotional relationship is similar. “Both involve a lot of time spent meditating and being quiet and waiting for something to come to you.”

These were no simple stories to write. Holbrook spent a lot of time analyzing the strongest and weakest part of her collection. “My advisor guided me through developing the narrative arc and how the collection was put together. Each piece supports each other yet I wanted to show how they compete with each other, too.”

The hardest part of the process was maintaining the discipline to write regularly. She wrote for about two hours a day. “That is what needs to happen to get inspired.”

Putting in the time to study the mysteries of the active voice, parallelism, plot, and characters, “you become a better writer primarily by reflection and analysis,” Holbrook says. “I knew it was going to be hard, but it was a good hard. I want to do this with my life.”

She sees finishing the collection as the reward. “Realizing that I was connected with these characters was very powerful for me. As a fiction writer I am writing about experiences that are not mine. I found out a lot about myself. That was very rewarding.”

Holbrook’s message is distinctive. “The creative writing program at Knox is really strong, but it was the Knox visit that made my decision to come here. The people were people I wanted to be friends with. They were balanced.”

In her own words, she says the project is a validation of what she wants to do with her life. She plans on completing her masters degree in fine arts at Syracuse University. At Knox she was awarded the Nina Marie Edwards Memorial Award, The Scripps Prize, the Proctor Fenn Sherwin Short Story Award and the A. Eugene & Ella Stewart Davenport Literary Award in Fiction. “I like to write. Whatever I have to do to support myself as a writer is okay. I’m not picky. Publishing, journalism, or even washing dogs. I won’t care.”

While at Knox, Holbrook was awarded the The Scripps Prize given to the senior with the highest grades in English. It was established by Mrs. Wayne Haynes in memory of her father William Scripps, class of 1878; the Proctor Fenn Sherwin Short Story Award, named in memory of Proctor Fenn Sherwin who taught English at Knox from 1924-1957.

What will she miss about Knox College? Her response is quick and unmistakable. Holbrook, like the other graduates before her, says she will miss the familiarity. “I will miss having people who know me. I will miss Galesburg. I will miss Innkeeper's coffee shop and Uncle Billy’s bakery. It has been one of the best experiences of my life.”

Alice Holbrook completed her Senior Honors project with a collection of eight short stories.