Alumna filmmaker, playwright to speak at Fredonia's 'Writers@Work' alumni residency

Insight into being a New York City-based filmmaker and playwright will be shared at multiple sessions by Fredonia alumna Sarah T. Schwab at Writers@Work, a residency that brings alumni who write professionally in a range of workplaces back to campus to meet students. Also included in the residency, to be held on Thursday and Friday, March 22 and 23, is a screening of Ms. Schwab’s first film, “‘A’ My Name Is.”

Brian Long

A frequent collaborator, Brian Long, a film and theatre producer also in New York City, will accompany Schwab at several presentations. Mr. Long served as managing director of Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, also in New York.

Schwab, an Eden, N.Y, native who has a M.A. (2009) and B.A. (2007), both in English from Fredonia, and is a member of the Playwrights/Directors Unit at the Actors Studio, will give a craft talk on life as a full-time playwright and screenwriter living in New York, a public lecture on the art of visual storytelling and a writing workshop offering students advice for using their inner voice and harnessing their inner demons. Several classroom visits are also planned. All events are free and open to the public.

In the craft talk, “Hunger is the Best Sauce: Becoming a Professional Writer,” Schwab will discuss how her experiences at Fredonia – which included writing for The Leader and The (Dunkirk) Observer – helped inspire and launch her writing career. She will also give insight into the realities of being a full-time playwright and screenwriter living in New York, disclosing the challenges and successes she has experienced in her pursuit of truthful storytelling.

The talk will be held on Thursday, 4 p.m., in the Science Center Kelly Family Auditorium.

Schwab will discuss what inspired her to write and direct her first screenplay in the talk “Show, Don’t Tell: The Art of Visual Storytelling.” The film, shot last December in Buffalo with a team that included Steve Giammaria (B.S., Sound Recording Technology, 2006) and Corey McCrea (senior, Communication: Video Production), presents a story about a young girl with early stage cancer who has a late-night adventure that culminates in the realization of her mortality.

The talk, to be followed by the “’A’ My Name Is” screening, will be held on Thursday, 6 p.m., at the Fredonia Technology Incubator, 214 Central Ave., Dunkirk.

Schwab will meet students enrolled on ENGL: Senior Seminar and COMM 359.02: Video Journalism and THEA 338.02 Acting For Media, all on Thursday.

A writing workshop, “Interrogate Your Darlings, Don’t Kill Them,” will explore intuition – the writer’s heart or gut – that Schwab believes is the most important tool of a writer. The workshop will be held on Friday, from 3 to 4:30 p.m., in Fenton Hall Room 127, English Reading Room.

Schwab and Mr. Long will also be interviewed on “High Noon Friday,” a public affairs program on WDVL, 89.5 FM, on Friday at noon. Schwab is also expected to speak at a Saturday Visit, an Admissions information session for prospective students, on Saturday, March 24.

Writers@Work, organized by the departments of Business, Communication, English, History and Theatre Arts, along with Alumni Affairs and Career Development Office, has brought 12 speakers to campus since 2016. It is supported by the Faculty Student Association, Fredonia Alumni Association, Carnahan Jackson Humanities Fund of the Fredonia College Foundation and the Mary Louise White Fund of the Fredonia College Foundation.