Creative writing event introduces Professor Joe Milan

By Naomi Alvarez

The Waldorf Creative Writing Club hosted an event at the Boman Fine Arts Center where new Waldorf University professor, Joe Milan, shared his work throughout the event.

Professor Milan has his doctorate in English and Creative writing from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He also got his a bachelor’s degree in English and drama in 2006 from the University of Washington and his Master of Fine Arts in fiction in 2012 from the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Milan shared works such as a true story from his life when he became a dishwasher at a nursing home. He explained when he first began writing, he started with poetry.

He later talked about his upcoming Novel, “Without a Handle,” a Korean-American coming of age story about a senior in high school named Bucky who is deported from the United States.

Milan is of Korean Ancestry and has taught in Korea for nine years, so explained how he found inspiration for the novel while he was visiting Korea.

Milan went on to answer questions at the end of the event and spoke about the differences he appreciates in both fiction and non-fiction writing. He does not like to label himself as one or the either as a writer.

“I imagine myself as a novelist,” Milan said, “but I don’t know what it is, but it’s so much easier to tell fiction than non-fiction, so I don’t know if I tell the truth easier than I lie.”

Milan explained that he wants to write more flash fiction in the future; although, he claims, “it’s probably the hardest thing to do.”

“It’s not my form and I’ll keep trying every once in a while. It’s a test of skill,” Milan said.