DECLARING THE WRITING MINOR
THE BLUE-EYED GIANT, THE MINIATURE WOMAN AND THE HONEYSUCKLE
by Nazim Hikmet
He was a blue-eyed giant,
He loved a miniature woman.
The woman's dream was of a miniature house
with a garden where honeysuckle grows
in a riot of colours
that sort of house.
The giant loved like a giant,
and his hands were used to such big things
that the giant could not
make the building,
could not knock on the door
of the garden where the honeysuckle grows
in a riot of colours
at that house.
He was a blue-eyed giant,
He loved a miniature woman,
a mini miniature woman.
The woman was hungry for comfort
and tired of the giant's long strides.
And bye bye off she went to the embraces of a rich dwarf
with a garden where the honeysuckle grows
in a riot of colours
that sort of house.
Now the blue-eyed giant realizes,
a giant isn't even a graveyard for love:
in the garden where the honeysuckle grows
in a riot of colours
that sort of house...
(translated by Richard McKane)
Ottoman Miniature from the Topkapi Museum
1. Candidates for the minor must be eligible for pre-registration and/or admission to upper-level workshops, and should have completed six hours of 200- or 300- level writing courses.
2. Candidates will need to set up a conference appointment with one of the four members of the Writing Minor Committee listed below. Those interested in the poetry track should contact either Professor Shelton Waldrep, or Professor Betsy Sholl; those interested in one of the narrative writing tracks (fiction or memoir) should contact either Professor Dianne Benedict or Professor Lee Hope.
3. Ahead of the scheduled conference, the student will be asked to submit an application manuscript of no more than 20 pages in their chosen genre (poetry, fiction, or memoir) to the member of the Writing Minor Committee with whom they've set up an appointment. The application manuscript should be submitted at least three days ahead of the conference appointment to allow the committee member sufficient time to review it.
4. Also ahead of the conference appointment, the student should pick up a Minor Declaration Form (this is a standard form, used by all departments, and is available in the English Department office), to bring to the conference.
5. At the time of the conference with the committee member, the student will be advised as to whether he or she has been accepted into the writing minor. At that time, if the student has been accepted into the minor, he or she will be advised as to the courses needed to complete the minor. The committee member will sign the Minor Declaration Form at that time, retain the original and one copy, and give one copy to the student.
At this stage, and not before, the student will have officially declared the Writing Minor.