The publishing class of 2017 is bursting with talent. Student Spotlight is a mini series designed to shine light on a few of those talents. To kick things off, meet Tessa Arden: a brilliant copywriter with a flare for stringing beautiful words together. She was a Features Editor on the print magazine, and a WordPress Designer on the magazine’s website.
When/how did your love of writing start?
When I was a child my dad worked a lot, but he would always read to me at bedtime. It was our special time together, and I looked forward to it every day. He read me the Lord of the Rings from start to finish when I was in Grade 3, and I was utterly enchanted. That is where my love of fantasy and science fiction comes from, and that is when I first thought to myself, “I want to write something that epic one day.”
Your favourite genre of reading is Sci-fi/fantasy, do you like writing about this too or do you like writing a different genre?
I have dabbled in science fiction and fantasy, but I primarily write poetry and fiction.
Do you have any writing projects on the go? What are your plans for them?
I haven’t had a whole lot of time to dedicate to my writing lately, but I do plan on finishing a book one day.
“Reaching record highsCatharsis sighs,You see the lid is sealedThe peels unpeeledContained in a containerMoving inEver in.The air’s too thinWhere real ones roam,The fear of fearCannot be toned.Terror is terrible:See the skyThat’s caving in?Because of the real ones.While meteoric brains,Explode, shower, rainAnd the curtain callFor crying,Is loudly dying,Stop softly trying,It’s vain.”– Tessa Arden
You have $500 to burn, all your friends are busy and you have the whole day to yourself, what do you do?
Honestly, I would probably go shopping! I’ve been a student for most of my adult life, and this fact is, sadly, reflected in the quality of my wardrobe. With the leftovers, I’d treat myself to a nice bottle of wine paired with a good book.
What skill or craft would you like to master?
Web development. Over the past couple months, I have totally fallen in love with code. I find it immensely satisfying… I never thought of coding as being a creative pursuit, but what I’ve discovered is that it actually requires a lot of ingenuity to be able to solve the problems that arise, and successfully bring a design to life on the web.
Where is the most beautiful place you’ve visited?
That’s a tough one. I’ve been to some pretty beautiful places, and each one beautiful in different ways. If I had to pick though, I would say Lake Arenal in Costa Rica.
