Creative Writer: Jessica Franck

What is your name and astrological sign?
My name is Jessica Franck and I am very much a Scorpio.
What extracurriculars are you involved with on Campus?
Currently I work with the English department and I am co-editor of Cargoes.
Can you tell us a little bit about Cargoes?
It is a campus literary magazine. It was one of the first, there are others like The Album and Cyborg Griffin but it’s kind of the staple.It’s been around for a long time and it publishes graduate and undergraduate work.
Can you tell us about the Cargoes National Undergraduate Contest?
The Cargoes National Undergraduate contest is an annual poetry and fiction contest and it’s really exciting because it is judged by outside judges that the editors of Cargoes select.It gives students the opportunity to have an esteemed writer read their work and possibly choose it and you can win $200! The deadline is January 1^st and all submissions need to be sent by mail along with an entry fee which is $10 dollars.
What got you involved with literary magazines and the English department?
That’s a really exciting story! Hollins was actually was pushed me to start writing poetry. They sent me information about the Nancy Thorpe Poetry Contest when I was a sophomore in high school. It’s a contest for sophomore and junior high schools students and the winners have their work published in Cargoes.They sent me that and I really wanted to give it a shot so I started writing poetry and I got an honorable mention and I knew from then on that I wanted to go to Hollins and I wanted to be as involved as possible with the magazines. So I work on Nancy Thorpe each year as well, reading submissions.  
What is one English class that you have taken that you would definitely recommend to an English major or a Creative Writing major or just somebody who is interested in taking an English class?
Well, if she were to offer it again –and everyone should email her and ask her to teach it again – is Cathy Hankla’s Cross-Genre class. She is an amazing teacher and she really pushes you and makes you think and makes you articulate everything. And it’s a really interesting course because there’s so much material that you wouldn’t normally come across because it’s cross-genre and experimental. [pagebreak]
How do you feel about the validity of Creative Writing as an English major?
I think it’s very valid. I know there’s a lot between talent and what you can and cannot teach but I kind believe Horace on that talent is good but you need to craft it regardless and you can make someone with not very much talent a decent writer but you can make someone with talent a really great writer and I think Hollins gives writers a great opportunity to take creative writing classes and participate in workshops. Not all universities offer that as a possibly so as undergraduates, we’re pretty lucky.
So you’re a senior this year, what are your plans for after graduation?
I’m really excited to hop from one opportunity to another. What I want to do most is get a fellowship I’m applying to that will give me a summer of writing for free in Pennsylvania and then I’m going to probably move back to Minneapolis because it has a great literary scene and get a job at a non-profit literary organization or work for Americorps overseas. And in a year or two I’m definitely going to apply to some M.F.A programs.
Is there anything else you would like to say about your experience at Hollins or the Hollins experience in general?
Yeah, I love it here and I love the English Professors very much. I really think it is what you make of it. If you put a lot of effort in, you’re going to reap some amazing rewards.