• About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • The Wellesley (COVID) 100
      The Wellesley (COVID) 100
    • In memory of Professor Rebecca Summerhays
      In memory of Professor Rebecca Summerhays
    • Trans flag controversy: College power washes staircase after trans flag is painted over Harry Potter spray paint
      Trans flag controversy: College power washes staircase after trans flag is painted over Harry Potter spray paint
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • The News in Conversation: Wellesley Against Mass Incarceration
      The News in Conversation: Wellesley Against Mass Incarceration
    • Editorial Board calls for keeping up trans flag murals
      Editorial Board calls for keeping up trans flag murals
    • No, Elon Musk’s Twitter will not restore free speech
      No, Elon Musk’s Twitter will not restore free speech
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • Chloe Gong could publish her grocery list and I’d pay $20 for it (Books Before Boys review)
      Chloe Gong could publish her grocery list and I’d pay $20 for it (Books Before Boys review)
    • RIP to Wanda, the male betta fish (Books Before Boys review)
      RIP to Wanda, the male betta fish (Books Before Boys review)
    • When talking to ghosts only worsens your existential dread (Books Before Boys review)
      When talking to ghosts only worsens your existential dread (Books Before Boys review)
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
    • Books Before Boys
  • Health and Wellness
    • February Student Athlete of the Month
      February Student Athlete of the Month
    • Athletics Update
      Athletics Update
    • Victoria Garrick Speaks on Mental Health
      Victoria Garrick Speaks on Mental Health
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • The Wellesley Snooze
    • Wellesley News Leadership Changes Completely Peacefully Without Any Suspicious Disappearances At All
      Wellesley News Leadership Changes Completely Peacefully Without Any Suspicious Disappearances At All
    • Solve Your Connection Problems With Wellesley Insecure
      Solve Your Connection Problems With Wellesley Insecure
    • Mayhem strikes Wellesley as paper towels removed from campus
      Mayhem strikes Wellesley as paper towels removed from campus
  • Miscellanea
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
      Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
    • 50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
      50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Shez Jafry Faculty Focus, Features, News and FeaturesOctober 4, 2017

Visiting Professor Lauren Holmes ’07 returns to Wellesley to teach creative writing

Lauren Holmes ’07 is a visiting professor in the English department Photo by Lien Dao '20, Photo Editor

When you walk into the office of visiting Creative Writing Professor Lauren Holmes ’07, a feeling of calm and comfort falls over you. Curled up in a chair across from her desk, Holmes is surrounded by quotes from fictional tales that decorate the walls of her office. With a window cracked open to let ideas flow in and out, Holmes has made herself at home again on the campus she once roamed as a student.

Holmes recalls the first time she visited Wellesley’s campus as a high school student touring colleges during the summer. She arrived in the parking lot once situated behind the Lulu Chow Wang Campus Center with her friend and met her tour guide. She reminisces about how she was overcome with the feeling that she was meant to be here, even without students present on the campus. After she was admitted, it took some time for her to get used to the drastically different social life and larger class sizes, coming from a small private school. But with time, she found her groove.

Holmes always knew her interests lay in reading and writing. Once she started taking classes with English Professor Marilyn Sides, who later became her mentor, she knew that creative writing was her forte. She took the maximum number of creative writing courses, reconfiguring her other literature classes to make them related to writing.

After working with Alicia Erian, a visiting professor of English at the time, Holmes realized how unique the English department was at Wellesley.

“The English department here honors and promotes creative writing in a way that’s really rare. Here it’s taken seriously as an academic pursuit,” said Holmes. She appreciates how the faculty guided her to opportunities she never would have thought were for her, such as the Schiff Fellowship for independent research projects.

During her time at Wellesley, she grew from a writer who focused on autobiographical fiction to one who learned how to write true fiction. Holmes found that before, she only used her life for inspiration but now she seeks inspiration from other sources. She is currently working on a memoir about her dog, a nonfiction book and a TV show based on her short stories, diversifying her types of writing.

Encountering setbacks for a number of years helped Holmes prepare for this job as a visiting professor at Wellesley.

“I wanted to do whatever I could to earn this job because I knew it was the best job of its kind,” said Holmes.

After she graduated, she worked at Planned Parenthood in Connecticut for two years and then applied to Master of Fine Arts programs to make her dreams come true. Holmes eventually pursued her MFA degree and started teaching at Hunter College, where she was surprised to encounter syllabi containing author ratios of 14 men to one woman. She is excited to come back to Wellesley where there are better surprises.

Holmes loves teaching at Wellesley because of the students and said she always knew she wanted to come back.

“I wanted to teach at Wellesley because of the interesting people here and the interesting stories they have to tell,” Holmes said.

She remarks that she can teach her students the mechanics of writing and help them learn how to find inspiration, but they ultimately must also find inspiration themselves.

Though highly rewarding, it can also be challenging to teach students at Wellesley.

“It’s a high level of thought to teach Wellesley students. The questions students ask require a high level of engagement. I need to be on my A game at all times,” said Holmes.

Holmes also recalls that when she was a student at Wellesley, she experienced many of the same feelings that Wellesley students experience today, including imposter syndrome.

“I too thought everyone must be smarter; everyone must be better prepared; everyone must be doing more important work,” said Holmes.

She hopes that Wellesley students will not burden themselves with such thoughts, as she knows they will thrive.

“Wellesley women carry the weight of the world and take so many things so seriously, but I learned after college that things I worried most about in college didn’t seem to matter later on. But I appreciate that Wellesley women take themselves seriously and take each other seriously, so my advice is to keep taking important things seriously and to worry less about everything else,” she said.

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous articleClaflin’s pastry chef Lori Davidson channels her passion for educational dining
Next articleScientists search for ways to preserve endangered coral reefs and their ecosystems

You may also like

The Wellesley (COVID) 100

In memory of Professor Rebecca Summerhays

Trans flag controversy: College power washes staircase after trans flag is painted over Harry Potter spray paint

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

Sorry. No data so far.

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2022 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top