The Irish have the gift of storytelling. It is intrinsic to their DNA. It is no wonder that Rowan University Professor, Megan Atwood has the magic for weaving a tale. The author of sixty plus books, primarily for children and young adults, Atwood will be at the helm this spring of a study abroad trip to Britain and Ireland with her Genre Writing class. Incorporating her lessons for the upcoming adventure, Atwood’s students have read, among other texts, British author Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere and The Likeness, a volume in the Dublin Murder Squad Series by American-born, and long-time Dublin resident, Tana French. “So, Tana French of course is my girl,” says Atwood, “she is just my favorite. There is also Lucy Foley, I think she is a British writer. And another Irish writer is Dervla McTiernan. There seems to be a spate of English and Irish especially murder mysteries, at least I get very into them. I’m loving understanding the way that different cultures work through a mystery as well. Because The United States has a very specific relationship to crime. And to all the context of the United States behind that and that is fascinating to read. And to look at that in a different culture, you can understand that culture in a better way too. There’s a full host of historical things that inform the way people act and even commit crimes and even are punished for those crimes. So, I was really into that Irish and English exploration.” During the trip, Atwood and her class will visit small towns in the English and Irish countryside along with experiencing big cities like London and Dublin. Always the educator, Atwood has woven the itinerary into teaching lessons specific to the syllabus from the spring 2024 semester. “Each place that we visit I’ll have a prompt that asks to look at things through the genre lens. So, is there some sort of mystery, convention, or trope that this place would lend itself. For instance we’re going to London and we read Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and that takes place in the underground under the tube, under the London Metro. And so, like talking about where else in London where you could find some places for horror? Where could you find magic? And then of course with fantasy and sci-fi, we’re going to Holyhead in Wales and there is some connection with the King Arthur myths, and what else could you imagine in this countryside?” While the journey abroad is strictly scholarly, Atwood has personal connections that run deep in Europe. In addition to her English/Irish/Scottish ancestry, she has fond memories of a prior trip to England, and a profound long lasting experience from when she studied a semester in Spain the second half of her junior year as an undergraduate at the University of Iowa. Atwood said the semester in Spain was so transformative that it changed her perspective, changed her life, changed everything. “I really want to give Rowan students a taste of that,” says Atwood. “Especially when it comes to creative writing, getting out of your own context is so important. And understanding that your lived experience isn’t everyone’s lived experience. I really wanted to give Rowan students a chance to step out of their normal lives even for a little bit. So, this is a way to do it without having to do it an entire semester. Yet, you still get the rich experience of seeing a different culture, seeing a different country.” Back then, Atwood did not consider herself a writer. She thought of herself more as an editor. But seeing the world as a bigger place, becoming more accepting of other cultures and how people lived laid the foundation for her development that would eventually build an inner courage to tell her own stories. Says Atwood of her time living in Spain, “I was able to see this amazing art, amazing cultural artifacts. I was able to travel around Europe by train. Even taking different transportation was a whole new world. And at that time, there were no cell phones. I used a map. I figured my way through and had to be fairly reliant on myself. Just in every single way I grew.” The transcendence of moving through the world with only her own devices helped build her confidence, something that would shape her future career choices. “I mean one of the things that I love about writing is that you’re always learning, you always have to put yourself in another person’s shoes,” says Atwood, “it’s an exercise in empathy in so many ways. Taking yourself out of your normal context and understanding the world in a different way helps you do that. I honestly believe that I wouldn’t have been able to even get into my MFA program had I not had that experience where I was able to step back and look at things in a different light. And that stepping back too is also important because of the writing. Revising is where the work is. So, being able to step back and look at something through fresh eyes, same thing as taking yourself out of your cultural context.” Some time afterwards, Atwood embraced her artistry for creative writing. To the gain of Rowan University’s Writing Arts students she parlays that craft to young minds. For anyone who has ever taken a class with Atwood the gift of her teaching acumen is memorable. The moment you walk into her class you feel welcome and safe to reveal your soul as a writer. There are no literary mistakes. She encourages you to take chances. For her class in Writing Children’s Stories, for example, Atwood encourages students to reignite their child within to inform what becomes the written word on the page. Now, with her genre students in-toe, she is excited for their upcoming journey. In addition to the exciting itinerary to England, Ireland, and Wales that she will share with the class, Atwood also has plans to stay on afterwards, and travel throughout Scotland. What new and wondrous encounters will lure Atwood’s creativity to the next realm we can only wait with great anticipation. In the meantime, she is focused on the expansion of her student’s worldview.
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