Letter to the Editor: Good Samaritan thanked for aiding fall victim in Kingston

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Bethlehem man arrested in Hanover Township indicted on federal drug and gun charges

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Since its implementation <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/features/224925/wilkes-graduate-creative-writing-program-celebrates-ten-years" target="_blank">10 years ago</a>, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/488878/wilkes-university-alumnus-marlon-james-wins-man-booker-prize-for-novel" target="_blank">Wilkes University&#8217;s graduate creative writing program</a> has operated in a low-residency format that offers students online instruction coupled with two eight-day residencies. According to Program Director Bonnie Culver, the program will offer potential students a new option next semester when it introduces a new &#8220;weekender&#8221; format.</p><p>&#8220;The weekender is designed for people who live within an hour of the campus,&#8221; Culver said. &#8220;What we&#8217;ve discovered is that there are a lot of 20 and 30-somethings who can&#8217;t come for eight or 10 days because they&#8217;re working. We already have five students who wouldn&#8217;t have been able to come to the low residency who are now going to do the weekender. It was more of a convenience choice.&#8221;</p><p>One of those students is 23-year-old Larksville resident Samantha Patterson. Patterson attended the program&#8217;s Dec. 15 instant acceptance event where decision makers were on hand to read over materials and offer immediate admission into the program.</p><p>Patterson fits the demographic Wilkes is looking for with its new weekender format; she&#8217;s a 20-something who requires online courses since she works full-time at Lackawanna College, but is able to attend weekend sessions since she lives a short drive from Wilkes&#8217; main campus.</p><p>The Penn State graduate focused on journalism and documentary filmmaking while pursuing her communications degree, but she&#8217;s ready to explore other creative outlets during her graduate studies at Wilkes.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve always been interested in fiction, as well,&#8221; Patterson said. &#8220;I think I&#8217;m going to wait until I meet the faculty during our first weekend experience, then pick between documentary filmmaking or fiction.&#8221;</p><p>Program Graduate Assistant Hillary Transue, 24, spoke to potential students at Dec. 15&#8217;s event. Transue moved from Ashley to New Hampshire to study English literature at Franklin Pierce University and enrolled at Wilkes to apply what she learned.</p><p>&#8220;A degree in &#8216;I read well&#8217; doesn&#8217;t really qualify me for a lot of jobs,&#8221; Transue said. &#8220;I realized that a big mistake I made was not getting a degree doing more of a skill. I think that writing, even creatively, would make me better qualified to join the workforce and get a better-paying job. A lot of marketing companies are looking for creative writers, so I just felt that I needed to continue my education.&#8221;</p><p>Wilkes University&#8217;s graduate creative writing program offers concentrations in fiction, poetry, screenwriting, playwriting, creative nonfiction, publishing and documentary filmmaking in either low residency or weekender formats. For more information, contact Wilkes&#8217; Office of Graduate Admissions at 1-800-408-4245.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Samantha Patterson talks with Etruscan Press Managing Editor Bill Schneider about Wilkes University&#8217;s graduate creative writing program during the office&#8217;s instant decision open house event Dec. 15. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL12xx15FHcreativeOpenhouse1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Samantha Patterson talks with Etruscan Press Managing Editor Bill Schneider about Wilkes University&#8217;s graduate creative writing program during the office&#8217;s instant decision open house event Dec. 15. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Gene Axton</p><p>gaxton@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Gene Axton at 570-991-6121 or on Twitter @TLArts</p></shirttailMeta></div>

New weekend class format offered for Wilkes University graduate creative writing program