WRITING | Portfolio

Photo by Judy Brennan

Since before I could even read, storytelling has been one of my greatest passions. As Associate Editor of my high school’s award-winning literary magazine Spectrum, I found a creative family in the magazine’s collaborative, eclectic group of staff writers. I have been fortunate to connect with several English teachers and other mentors who have encouraged me to keep honing my writing craft and to enter my work in competitions.

Collected here are a few pieces that I have written for classes or on my own time. These works and others have earned me ten regional awards and one national silver medal from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, as well as a Certificate for Superior Writing from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). An abridged version of my feature "'When the Oceans Rise and Thunders Roar': The Life and Work of Rachel Sachdev" can also be found in Scholastic's The Best Teen Writing of 2019.

I hope you enjoy the pieces I've included below!

Migrating Towards Acceptance

Investigative Journalism

After discovering our mutual connection to Zaman International—a community center in Dearborn, MI that serves women, children, and refugee families through food services and empowerment projects—my friend Sabriya Imami and I decided to co-write this article on the immigrant experience in the U.S. We hoped to highlight stories that are often buried by political rhetoric surrounding immigration, and provide a blueprint for Americans to help welcome and support their fellow community members.

In the Footsteps of Giants

Memoir

In the summer of 2016, I traveled to Bangalore, India to stay with a family that runs a children's home just outside the city. The home takes in children from all over India who live in dangerous home situations or whose families cannot adequately provide for them. I wrote this memoir as a way to translate my feelings of awe and inspiration upon meeting the home's founders and working with the children. Loosely inspired by previous travel experiences in South Africa, Laos, and Italy, it attempts to balance hopelessness with hope and action with intention. Above all, I wrote this memoir to show myself who I haven't been and who I can be. "In the Footsteps of Giants" won a regional Gold Key from the Scholastic Writing Awards, and it remains one of my favorite pieces of writing that I have completed.

Color Theory

Memoir

"Color Theory" is a story of perspective. Based on a fragmented web of memories from my childhood, it tracks a gradual widening of perspective as I attempt to fit the pieces of this crazy universe together. In the process, the memoir also alludes to my love for art and writing. This 2016 memoir holds a special place in my heart as one of the first pieces that allowed me to find my creative voice outside of the rules and regulations of expository writing. It was also one of the first pieces that I submitted to writing competitions, winning me a Gold Key from the Scholastic Writing Awards.

DENG LONG

Screenplay

"DENG LONG" is a short screenplay that I wrote for a Film Studio Productions class in my senior year of high school. Though I did not end up producing the film, I have often revisited and refined the script over the years, with help from friends and professors alike. I hoped to accomplish a story that subverts the typical one-dimensional representation of a disillusioned second-generation immigrant by centering the protagonist's experience on a family tragedy. Vivian's relationships with her family members are nuanced and deeply influenced by her cultural roots, which is part of why I have chosen not to produce this short film until I have received enough guidance on the pieces of her experience that I will never fully understand.

"When the Oceans Rise..."

Human-Interest Story

In the summer of 2016, I traveled to Bangalore, India to stay with a family that runs a children's home just outside the city. The home takes in children from all over India who live in dangerous home situations or whose families cannot adequately provide for them. After expanding on my personal experience in "In the Footsteps of Giants," I hoped to bring greater visibility to the work and ambitions of the home's founders. For this feature article, I interviewed my host mother and founder of the children's home, whom I've identified here under the pseudonym "Rachel Sachdev." Though weaving her many stories into a cohesive narrative presented a huge challenge for someone who had never written journalism before, I relished the opportunity to try out a new style of writing and to relay this important story. "When the Oceans Rise" earned me my first national Scholastic medal, as well as my first publication in a teen writing anthology.

The Art of Jaywalking

Poem

Poetry has always been a hobby of mine, but "The Art of Jaywalking" is one of my favorite pieces, and the only one of my poems to earn a Scholastic Gold Key. The poem was inspired by a seven-week NSLI-Y (National Security Language Initiative for Youth) intensive Arabic language program that I completed in Rabat, Morocco. I actually adapted the poem from a college essay I wrote under the same title, which documented my journey learning to adapt to new cultures and lifestyles while also understanding my place in a community. While in Rabat, I had so many incredible opportunities to make new friends and interact with the local environment. One of the most impactful lessons I learned from Moroccan culture was how to view progress in terms of relationships rather than time-oriented goals. I have attempted to carry this spirit of community and adventure into my life in the U.S.

ERIN BRENNAN

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I hope you enjoy the pieces I've included below!