Five students attended the National Undergraduate Literature Conference at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, to present their original poetry, literary criticisms and creative nonfiction works.

Senior Courtney McClain, junior Kelly Ochs, senior Haley Gilbert, senior Kurtis King and junior Ashley Schmidt, who will be presenting a paper in Spanish, will be accompanied on the trip by English professor Lucy Price.

“We keep an eye out for exceptional work being submitted in our classes,” Price said. “Then we suggest that they submit their work (to the conference).”

King, an English major with an emphasis in creative writing, will be presenting an exploratory piece on Jack Kerouac’s “Old Angel Midnight.”

“It’s this ongoing, spontaneous piece,” he said. “I just picked it apart, to see what’s so important about it.”

King said he thinks Baker gives students more opportunities than other schools to attend outside events.

“I’m really excited to (attend the conference),” he said. “I think other schools overlook events like this. At Baker, individual recognition seems more important.”

Gilbert, an English major with a literary emphasis, said she has never been to this conference but has previously attended events for Sigma Tau Delta, the honorary English fraternity.

“It was a really good experience,” she said. “I learned more in three days just from listening to other students present their papers, from the keynote speakers and from the poets and writers. I felt like I improved so much in such a short amount of time.”

Gilbert will be presenting a creative nonfiction piece about a personal experience, and suggests that any students who feel they have a strong piece of writing should talk with a professor.

“If you have a professor who knows the guidelines and suggests that your paper is good enough, go for it,” she said. “You don’t have a lot to lose.”

In addition to being a place for Baker students to see how they stack up against other students in the country, Price said that another benefit was listening to the nationally known writers who are attracted to the conference each year.

“They read their own work and frequently work with the students,” she said. “It’s a good chance to see what working writers are doing, because it’s easy to think of creative writing as an interest and a hobby, not really a career.”