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Hedwig Irene Gorski |
After receiving a BFA in
painting from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Canada, Hedwig Irene Gorski began an
innovative career as an award-winning performance poet in the 1980s working as
a writer/vocalist with East of Eden Band and producing literary audio projects
for international radio distribution. She co-founded and named Voltaire’s
Basement in Austin, a venue to originate experimental performances and literary
events that often traveled to larger stages. Her radio drama script, Thirteen Donuts, received a 2001 award
form National Audio Theatre and was published in their annual scriptbook. The
production was broadcast on KRVS-FM and simulcast on Louisianaradio.com in 2000
and featured during the UL Lafayette English department’s Deep South Festival
of Writers. She received a Louisiana Division of the Arts Audio Media fellowship
in 2002. Her 2001 doctorate degree culminated a process that helped her develop
her teaching abilities, for which she received the Robert and Bernice Webb
Award in graduate teaching, as well as moving her writing interests into
screenwriting and fiction.
You enter a
mythology full of cultural intrigue at UL Lafayette in Acadiana, one that
facilitates participation but—let me advise you—is extremely difficult to
leave. The stage of Creole/Cajun culture is an all-encompassing set, lit also
within the undergraduate students you teach; and has a fog-like effect that
lends itself toward introspection, so valuable for intellectuals and creative
minds. When the bayou dampness lifts, you clearly envision a magnificent
landscape of present and future that far surpasses what could have been
imagined in your past; and, are surrounded by healthy attitudes with vivid
impressions of your own mind and ideas. The creative writing faculty encourage
your development without dishonest vagaries about your work and with pin-point
instructions to eliminate chaff. Surrounding your inner creative and academic
activities, a sometimes gaudy circus of international carnival, world music,
Zydeco dance, and mysterious food swirls non-stop on the occasions you choose
not to retreat into the active silence of your computer. Finally, there is the
smooth landscape of muddy water and filtered sun, a healthy verdant green of
croaking frogs and meteor showers on humid nights. No one succeeds alone.
An Excerpt from
Hedwig Gorski’s Writing
Check out Hedwig’s
Curriculum Vitae
Go to UL Lafayette
Creative Writing Anthology
© 2001, University
of Louisiana at Lafayette.
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To contact us by mail: Director of Creative Writing, English
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337-482-5478;
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Last updated: May 1, 2001.