Professional Development: Red Clay (2025)

On April 26, 2025, I went to the Red Clay Conference hosted by Georgia Writers at Kennesaw State University. While there, I got to connect with writers, as well as my peers and professors, and learn all things AI, writing crime in the South, and foraging metaphors. 

Writing About Things That Matter (To You)

My favorite part of the conference, however, was listening to the John Lewis Grant Winners, Dominque Feloss, Wytinsea Jones, Alafia Nicole Sessions, read their work. I particularly enjoyed Session's poetry, which was inspired by her work as a doula. While I myself do not have children, I could feel the emotions of what it must be like to love one's child more than anything else and the sacrifices one makes to bring life into this world. Looking back, every piece read from the Grant winners was so personal and inspiring. Feloss created worlds that were fantastical but felt so very real, and Jones write a read regarding her experiences with colorism in the South. 

Just prior to attending the conference, I submitted a creative non-fiction piece and I struggled determining how much information about myself I should share. Would people care about my story, and if not, how could I shaped into something that would be captivating? I learned from reading their pieces that people will care so long as the author cares and captures their own emotions within their piece. Not only do I see this helping me with my own writing, but I hope to translate this to my students for their narrative assignment. 

The Impending (Doom?) of AI

I also attended the "Creative Writing in the Age of AI" panel, hosted by Dr. Jeanne Law-Bohannon, Dr. Kurt Millburger, Jeff Greene. This panel opened my eyes to copyright issues that could arise as AI becomes more dominant in creative fields and profitable, and the possible legal issues surrounding using AI to generate a product that I could profit off of. However, I believe the best part of this panel was hearing the various perspectives from pro-AI and anti-AI academics to give me a more well-rounded point-of-view. I can definitely see the benefits of AI in that it helps people who lack access to better resources, but as a creative writer, the rise of AI definitely scares me in terms of there a need for human-created content in the future. I am both interested and scared to see how laws surrounding AI will evolve and if the world will one day truly be run by robots. 

On a more practical note, I definitely plan to use the knowledge I gained regarding potential copyright issues surrounding creative work created with AI to warn students if they are interested in pursuing creative fields.