Liz Ahl
(1983-1986)
How would you characterize the influence of your YWW experience in your life?
I don’t think I could overstate its importance. Those dozen years not only allowed me to imagine being a poet and a teacher, they afforded me the opportunity to take artistic and personal risks, to become the kind of person I wanted to be, the kind of friend I wanted to be. I learned a lot about myself, about my capacities and habits. I also made a couple of life-long friends. I miss working there. The couple of times I have been back, after long absence, has felt like coming home.
What’s the best advice you can give a Young Writer (in general or in your specific genre)?
Read. Read. Read.
Where are you working and what do you enjoy about it?
Plymouth State University for nearly [twenty] years now. I love teaching creative writing – and so much of what I love about that work is connected to my years as a student and teacher at YWW. I love the sense of community that can emerge in a workshop, a spirit of camaraderie and creativity – that never gets old for me. And my students are always showing me new things about poetry.