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Lisa
Glatt, a lecturer in CSULB’s English
department, signs copies of her novel, "A
Girl Can Become A Comma Like That."
• Tracey Roman / Daily Forty-Niner
English
professors write as they teach
By
Ted Goslin
Daily Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
For most students on campus, writing is
either a hopeful profession or a dreadful
task. But for Lisa Glatt and Suzanne Greenberg,
it’s breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Glatt
and Greenberg, both teaching English courses
on campus, are also accomplished authors
with published works out now. Greenberg
has most recently written a collection of
short stories called "Speed Walk and
Other Short Stories" which won her
the "2003 Drue Heinz Literature Prize,"
a high award for short story writers.
Also
achieving success with her book "A
Girl becomes a Comma like That", Glatt
has received glowing reviews from The New
York Times, the Washington Post and Elle.
The novel is about a poetry teacher who
lives with her dying parent while she and
her friends try to connect with reality.
Both
authors recently gave readings of their
works to a live audience at the Long Beach
Museum of Art.
"I
really enjoyed the reading. I admire Lisa
and her work," Greenberg said. "The
funny part of the whole thing was that nobody
knew that we knew each other and that made
it that much more enjoyable."
Among
those in attendance for the reading was
graduate student and friend of Greenberg,
Oceana Callum. Callum has read both works
by the authors and has been a student of
Greenberg’s for a year.
"I
thought that both books were incredible,"
Callum said. "They are both so good
at taking something that is considered an
every day thing and making it seem like
a new experience. Lisa wrote about cancer
in such a way that it shows the tragic side
but also a funny side that is unexpected."
While
starting her graduate work in 1995, Greenberg
began writing both creative writing in fiction
and non-fiction works. After completing
her graduate work she began teaching creative
writing for CSULB. This however, did not
stop her from continuing her writing goals.
"I
would say that I am a better teacher when
I’m writing," Greenberg said.
"It gets me more enthusiastic about
teaching and it inspires me to be around
the students so that I can write more."
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