Internships

Internship Interview: Rebecca Arrowsmith

Rebecca Arrowsmith,

The Madeline Oliveri Writing Program at Palm Harbor Library

The Madeline Oliveri Writing Program is an initiative by the Palm Harbor Library to commemorate the late-Madeline Oliveri’s love of writing and self-enrichment. Madeline was one of the first women working in the New York Stock Exchange, as well as a television commentator and newspaper editor in New York for many years. After retirement, she filled various volunteer roles at the library, becoming a community staple there. I would recommend the Madeline Oliveri Internship to MFA students interested in shaping and leading 1-2 creative writing workshops for the Palm Harbor community during a fall or spring semester. As an intern of the writing program, I brought ideas to the library around future expansion of the program and planned actionable items to put those ideas in motion. I also led a workshop-style creative nonfiction class. For the class, I set expectations with workshop participants, structured the workshop, read and provided thorough written feedback balancing praise with critique, and guided participants to constructively read and critique the works-in-progress of others. At the conclusion of the workshop(s), I assisted the library staff in organizing and hosting a “Reading in the Garden” event. The internship helped me practice and adapt my skills in writing pedagogy for an informal learning environment. By leading organic conversations around craft, I learned how important it is to communicate to developing writers that no idea is ever “wrong,” and that creativity carries a wide spectrum of thought and possibility.