Creative Writing debuts work, ‘We Digress’ available now

In Creative Writing 1, students look over their works printed in the third edition of “We Digress….” They received the books at their end of the year reading on Wednesday, May 15.

Six students of Kamehameha Schools Maui’s Creative Writing classes showcased a selection of their works in We Digress…Live!, a reading, on Wednesday, May 15, 2013.

“To see their writing evolve like that was really inspiring to me,” freshman spectator Julia Singh said. “I definitely got chills when some people talked.”

The informal presentation was held in the class room of the Creative Writing teacher, Ms. Kye Haina. This was one of the class’s final assignments for the semester.

The room was filled with a captivated audience as they enjoyed a candlelit lunch. The entertainment consisted of the students reading a sampling of their creative writing from the semester. There were four students from Creative Writing 1 and two from Creative Writing 2.

“I thought it was really insightful,” Singh said. “It really made me want to take [Creative Writing] next year.”

The first student to read her work was junior Jaylin Kekiwi, who shared three darkly themed pieces.

Second was junior Olivia Iaea, delivering descriptive stories that clearly showed her love for writing.

Third was senior Mehana Lee, a Creative Writing 2 student, who shared poems and stories that connected well with the audience, speaking of the average struggles of growing up and dealing with peers and family.

With a similar connection, senior Reid Cairme shared a school-based story that everyone could recognize from personal experiences, followed by a story full of onomatopoeia, echoing the sounds of an orchestra class.

Junior Lexis Viena was the final student. She read a dialogue-intensive short story reflecting a personal childhood experience.

Creative Writing 1 senior Amber Kama performed three short works focused on emotion and personal identity.

As part of the class, she has written a science fiction novel with a time-travel theme.

“I’ve always wanted to write a novel, so why not?” Kama said about taking the class in which students write 50,000-word novels. She entitled her book SuperWhoLock, a name combination derived from the BBC television shows Supernatural, Doctor Who, and Sherlock.

In collaboration with visual arts students, samples of art work as well as featured Creative Writing stories have been published in KS Maui’s third volume of We Digress…, which is available for purchase from now through Friday, May 24. The cost is $7 and will be billed to student accounts. Staff may pay with cash or check. Any questions about the works or purchases can be made to [email protected].