McGovern Medical School faculty have put a new twist on the adage “publish or perish” with their participation in the first McGovern Center Writing Fellows program.
The McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics just wrapped up the inaugural writing program for faculty, focusing on creating literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
The Intensive Writers’ Workshop for Health Professionals met monthly and was led by Pritha Bhattacharyya, a fiction PhD candidate and Inprint C. Glenn Cambor Fellow in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Houston. The student body was comprised of nine McGovern faculty members, a physician from private practice, an MD Anderson Cancer Center physician, and a faculty member from the Cizik School of Nursing.
“I’ve had a lot of faculty approach me over the years wanting help with writing, so I knew there was a desire for this,” said Nathan Carlin, PhD, director of the McGovern Center. “The goal is to teach faculty the methods and craft behind creating literary fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, which they can then apply to their own creative work.”
Lilit Sargsyan, MD, assistant professor, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, said she enjoyed the creative experience. “Our monthly evenings together have provided a creative outlet and a respite from everyday work life,” she said. “It has been wonderful to share discussions of notable pieces of literature and poetry, as well as discuss and critique our own writing with like-minded individuals in a safe setting that Dr. Carlin created.”
Participants read new and established writers and poets and presented their own works to be “workshopped.” House of God author Samuel Shem also was a part of the class during his recent visit to McGovern.
Renee Flores, MD, associate professor in the Department of Internal Medicine said the program helped improve reading and listening skills in addition to honing writing. “We built a community to share stories in medicine and patient-related care,” she said. “The year of developing these relationships and writing skills has flown by. I hope that others explore this opportunity, as it gives breathing room to discover creative talents that may have been bottled up with the hustle and bustle of other medical and personal responsibilities.”
Participant Kevin Hwang, MD, professor of internal medicine, called the workshop “one of the most unique and rewarding programs” he has joined at McGovern.
“Nurturing our creative side is essential for fulfillment and balance in our lives,” he said. “Dr. Nathan Carlin supplied interesting high-level perspective, putting into context the writers who have gone before us and encouraging us to see our own work in different ways.
“The best part was the opportunity to provide and receive thoughtful, constructive feedback on each other’s works. I’ve come away reinvigorated to persist in my own creative writing project.”
Bhattacharyya has been published in The Southern Review and Ecotone and recently received the Inprint Joan and Stanford Alexander Prize in Fiction.
Applications for the 2023-24 edition of the fellowship program are open now. Those interested should send a brief note of interest, and a 1,000-word max writing sample is optional, but strongly encouraged. Also, please indicate whether you have a work-in-progress already, and what month you would be ready to workshop your writing.
Additionally, the McGovern Center has partnered with Inprint Houston to offer opportunities to enhance writing among health professionals. This partnership will include having an Inprint Writer-In-Residence who will lead the McGovern Center-Inprint Houston Writing Fellowship. Inprint Houston fosters the art of creative writing through events and workshops, and has served more than 15,000 readers and writers of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction.
Send materials or questions to Nathan.Carlin@uth.tmc.edu by Aug. 15, 2023. There are 18 spots available for the program.
“I encourage any nascent or experienced writers and anyone with an interest in medical humanities to participate in this class,” Sargsyan added. “I hope this class remains a permanent offering at McGovern Medical School.”
A reading by the workshop fellows is scheduled for noon, June 16 in the Leather Lounge. Lunch will be provided for the first 30 attendees.