Evan Saunders

Hello! I like to write short fiction, poetry, plays, screenplays,  and anything that involves words. In 7th grade, I started writing fanfiction crossovers for fun but moved into writing short fiction and poetry while attending  Arts at the Capitol Theater (ACT) in Willimantic, CT. I studied under published professional writers and poets, going on to win several regional and national awards in fiction, poetry, and portfolio. In 2015 the Connecticut Writing Project (CWP) published my performance poem "All About Colts." I also had the experience of attending the New England Young Writer's Conference in 2015 on the Breadloaf Campus in Middlebury, Vermont, where I was mentored by Rebecca  Makkai, nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for her novel "The Great Believers." At the conference's conclusion, I was fortunate enough to be selected by my peers and mentor to present my short story "A Phone Call Wouldn't Do." 

I was fortunate enough to attend Southern Connecticut State University's Honors College, where I was exposed to ekphrastic poetry under Professor Brian Johnson. He pushed me to delve into the paintings of Edward Hopper, an American realist whom I discovered through Professor Johnson's Honors seminar "Conceptions of the Self."   Hopper's depictions of the 20th century United States of America always struck me as sparse, lonely, yet somehow magical and mysterious. My current project is a poetry chapbook dedicated to the works of Edward Hopper, which has been a few years in the making.