Q & A with Writing Center Director Gina Evers
Q. Where did you go to school, and what was your major?
A. I started as a performance theater major at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University for my first two years. Then I transferred, and finished my undergraduate degree at Ithaca College where I was a writing major with two minors, in theater and English. I then earned my Master of Fine Arts in creative writing with a concentration in poetry, at American University in Washington, D.C.
Q. What is your favorite thing about the Mount?
A. My favorite thing about the Mount is our sense of community, and it’s something I immediately felt walking onto campus when I first came here nine-plus years ago to interview for my position as the director of the Writing Center. We’re able to create a sense of belonging on our campus, and that’s not true on any other college campus that I’ve worked.
Q. What do you love about working in the Writing Center?
A. I love that I get to create meaningful relationships with students, while talking about writing all day every day.
Q. Do you have a favorite food spot in Newburgh?
A. I like Ms. Fairfax a lot.
Q. What’s your favorite TV show at the moment?
A. I'm not a big TV-watcher, but my kids and I recently did a video reenactment of the Netflix reality TV show “Is It Cake?”—so that immediately comes to mind.
Q. What’s something you wish students knew about the Writing Center?
A. How helpful it is, and how nonjudgmental we are. We’re there because we all like writing and we know that it’s hard, so we’re there to support other people and make it a little easier. We just want to talk students through it and be supportive!
Q. How can students, faculty, and staff benefit from your work at the Writing Center?
A. First, engage! Make an appointment, come to our events or stop by. And, writing is a life skill and applies to all professions.
Q. Is there anything else you’d like the Mount community to know about you?
A. I am an actively publishing poet, and I’m going to be in a gallery show called Poets Respond to Art sponsored by Arts Mid-Hudson. I’m one of 18 poets that’s getting paired with 18 visual artists—all of us located in the Hudson Valley. All of the poets will write poems in response to one of the visual artists’ pieces, so that will be on view in Poughkeepsie from the end of March through the end of April. That would be an awesome thing for the campus community to come check out!