Ottawa University-Wisconsin recently launched a new course created out of response to student interest and talent -- Creative Nonfiction. This genre combines the "real life" focus of writing with all the creative elements of fiction. Students studied and practiced narration, characterization, description, dialogue and other aspects of writing through intensive reading and crafting their own work. The final for the course required each student to revise, polish, and present one of their short stories for a creative writing reading, which was open to Ottawa University's staff, faculty and students, as well as the public. The reading featured stories that ranged in subject matter from the thrill of a first hunt with a falcon to life with an autistic child. 

The five featured readers( L-R): Steve Sadzewicz, Carriel Danz, Deanne Olsen, Kristen Pitel, Zeke Totten, and Katy J. Vopal, Instructor.