On the surface, Amber Kelley is a junior English major who goes to Union University, assistant editor for literary arts magazine The Torch and aspiring mandolin player. Her favorite novel is A Tale of Two Cities. Deeper down, however, she is a storyteller and a poet who tells the truth of what she sees, while her story goes unwritten. Seated in the deep leather chairs of the fireplace room in the Bowld, I asked her to share her story. The following is a mere snapshot of her writer’s journey as I have come to know it.
When Kelley was little, she discovered a children’s literary magazine called Stone Soup. It featured writing and artwork from children through age 13, and Kelley thought that if those kids could write and get published in the magazine, maybe she could too. So, at around age 11 or 12, she started writing. Though her work never appeared in Stone Soup, Kelley continued to write. In fact, not making it in the magazine the first time just made her more stubborn about doing it.
Continuing to grow her love for writing, Kelley created works throughout high school. Though not very serious about it at the time, she read, she wrote and she had fun with it. She kept this interest as a side hobby, and upon coming to Union to start her freshman year, she decided to major in biology with a minor in English.
Originally, she planned to graduate and go to med school, but it was not long before Kelley realized that biology was not her calling. Her grades were fine, but her heart was not happy. So, she switched her major and minor and chose an emphasis in creative writing. This began Kelley’s current season of growth as a writer.
The creative writing classes and workshops not only provided a place to craft poems and fiction writings, but they also offered a safe space for the writers to share their work. Before these classes, Kelley was very uncomfortable showing her poems to other people. It stressed her out, but after a while, that environment helped her learn to appreciate sharing her work.
“I don’t think it was so much that I was afraid of criticism. It just felt really personal,” said Kelley. “But now that I’ve gotten used to that, I love sharing my work with people. I want to get people’s feedback and see what they have to say. There are so many talented writers here, and they always have something helpful to say.”
Kelley also learned in her workshops that according to Bobby Rogers, professor of English, writer in residence and faculty sponsor of The Torch, she and other writers are never to apologize for their works. For Kelley, all she can do is her best and then present what she has.
So what does her creative process look like? Back when she took writing less seriously, she only put words to the page when she felt like it or when inspiration struck. But this method just does not work anymore, especially in a poetry workshop class. Kelley has had to learn to sit down and write whether or not the work was good.
Sometimes, she starts with something she has been thinking about for a while. Other times, she glances around the room and selects an object near her. Then she just tells the truth. Whatever that means to her at the moment, she tells the truth about the subject.
“I don’t think anything’s lost on her, and that’s what a writer’s supposed to be, someone upon whom nothing is lost. She uses all kinds of things in her writing,” said Rogers.
Those ideas begin in a regular notebook, written with a pencil so they can easily be erased. Once her general ideas are on the page, Kelley moves to a Word document. This way, she can see how the poem will look in print based on where she placed line breaks. Then, she just continues drafting.
“I like seeing the finished product,” said Kelley. “I like editing things until they’re exactly how I want them, so it’s really satisfying to see different versions of the poem I had and how it’s progressed. I like to watch my writing get better with each round of edits.”
Last year, she joined the staff of The Torch, Union’s literary arts publication. However, working as one of the editors does not mean that Kelley’s poems are automatically included in the magazine. Every submission is anonymously read by all editors so that they can collectively select the featured pieces, which are works of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, photography and visual art.
The team chose Kelley’s poem “Mandolin” to include in the 2019 edition of The Torch. Though she owns and tries to play the mandolin, Kelley is largely unsuccessful. Like many of her other works, she wrote about it simply because it was in the room with her. However, she found it easy to convey the images and tactile descriptions because she was familiar with the instrument.
This year, Kelley took the position of assistant editor, and she submitted several pieces, hoping one will be selected by the staff for the 2020 edition of The Torch.
Kelley does not have a set plan for her future yet. She may use her biology minor to do science writing, she may go into editing and publishing and she is also thinking about continuing school and working towards a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing or poetry to become a teacher. Whatever her future holds, however, Kelley knows she will always continue to write poetry.
Photo courtesy of Neil Cole
