SILVER CITY, NM — The Humanities Department at Western New Mexico University (WNMU) recently held its final Sin Fronteras Creative Writing Project for Undergraduate Students, a creative writing project to foster community, encourage reading international and regional literature, and investigate the idea of a border in different ways. Professional guest writers/teachers each gave one craft talk/generative workshop, and Associate Professor of English Composition, Professor Heather Frankland, MFA, organized the special project. This session brought together 13 dedicated students, primarily undergraduate students, for an intensive exploration of narrative, poetry and the transformative power of the written word.
The Sin Fronteras series offers a structure where each year is uniquely its own, with different sessions each time. Even when instructors return, the pedagogical approach is refreshed to ensure that long-term participants continue to evolve in their craft.
This commitment to artistic growth is evidenced by the return of dedicated writers, including students Laisha Vargas and Anais Orantez, both of whom also serve as editors of The Maverick, the WNMU student academic journal.
"Sin Fronteras was an opportunity that I am so glad I took. It not only helped me strengthen my writing skills as a poet, but it opened my eyes to new ways of enjoying literature. One of my favorite lessons I learned is that anyone can write, you can make good writing out of anything," Vargas said.
The workshop included an equally collaborative approach by five professional writers: JJ Amaworo Wilson (Writer-in-Residence at WNMU), Fabienne Josaphat (winner of the 2023 PEN Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction), Miguel De La Cruz (bilingual author and board member of New Mexico Book Association), Melanie Sweeney (USA Today bestseller), and Frankland. Just like the students, guest writers/teachers such as Wilson returned for multiple years of Sin Fronteras. As an internationally acclaimed author, Wilson's involvement provided students with a rare opportunity to learn from a practitioner operating at the highest levels of the craft.
"It's been such a pleasure working with Professor Frankland and her students these last three years in the Sin Fronteras program. As guest author/educators, we encouraged the students to explore their identities as people and as writers and to broaden their definitions of what literature can be," said Amaworo Wilson. "In the process, we discovered vibrant new voices and inquiring minds! I'm grateful to have had the chance to work with such talented students."
Frankland added further depth to the session, representing the strong tie between the university's academic mission and the local community's vibrant arts scene.
"This is our third and last year of Sin Fronteras, and as always, it's an enjoyable time where students get to experiment with writing. This creative writing project serves as a way to demonstrate a healthy writing community as well. Oftentimes, writing can be in a solitary art, but in getting to know each other and the guest writers/teachers, students realize that writers celebrate and encourage each other. This project would not have been possible without the WNMU Foundation President's Society Program Support, and we are deeply grateful for this support, which allowed our students to have a truly unique experience, a way to encourage their creative growth and build community," Frankland said.
For many of these participants, the workshop served as an introduction to the concept of a writing community. Each session focused on the idea of a border in unique ways, international and regional literature, and writing techniques. Sessions focused on generating new work—creating first drafts that could be further built upon outside of the workshop session.
By the conclusion of the workshop, the 13 students had each produced a diverse portfolio of new work, ranging from prose to poetry.
