The West Virginia University Eberly College of Arts and Sciences’English Department is supporting a new Writers-In-The-Senior Community program.

Following in the footsteps of WVU s Writers-In-The-Schools program, WVU creative writing student Kelly Edgeington has taken the lead on developing the new group.

In the Writers-In-The-Schools program, which originated as a component of English Professor Jim Harms’pedagogy class, graduate students visit West Virginia K-12 schools.

The Writers-In-The-Senior Community group will visit Morgantown’s nursing homes or adult day centers to read to the residents/patients and work with them on their creative writing skills. The group is comprised mostly of Masters of Fine Arts students, graduate students and faculty. The first two workshops will focus on Writing Memoirs and Cataloging Oral Histories.

The development of this group benefits everyone involved. Edgeington said it helps the seniors, especially during the winter holidays which have been known to cause depression and lethargy, and it helps the faculty, staff and students by giving them an opportunity to meet outside of the university setting and gain experience while helping others; and it brings the university community and English community into the local community. Edgeington hopes to reach other counties and communities as the program continues to grow.

For more information or to get involved, contact Edgeington at k_edgeington@yahoo.com .