English major commits his life to books
Independent Study projects come in many different forms,butfor some English majors, like Danny Caine ’08,theycan be acreativewriter’sfirst book-length project.Caine, whosince graduating Wooster haswrittentwo books of poetry,Continental Breakfast (Mason Jar Press 2019) and El DoradoFreddy’s (collaboration with Tara Wray,forthcoming fromBelt Publishing 2020), emphasized how important I.S. was in proving to him “That writing a book is something I can do!As the writer of two books and counting, I can’t overstate how important it was to work on that project.”
Caine’s I.S. was a collection of nonfiction essaysabout his time as a backpacking guide in New Mexico, a projectthat prepared himfora career as a writer.“I learned many skills from I.S.I still use today, from the art of putting together a book-length manuscript in terms of tone and sequencing, to the effectiveness of time management to make sure I find time to write during a busy schedule,” he said, crediting his advisor Daniel Bourne, professor of English, as providing significantguidancein both creative writing classes and on I.S.
Effective time managementiskey for Caine’s careersince,in addition tobeinga published poet,healsoowns The Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas, where he hosts events andactivelyadvocates for independentbusinesses.Last spring,Caine started usingThe Raven’s onlineplatform, he explained, “to extend our message of pro small-business advocacy. Much of that advocacy warned against the dangers of letting Amazon grow unchecked.”After his postsgarnered attention, he decided to articulate his argument in a zine, orindependently-publishedmagazine,calledHow to Resist Amazon and Why.After selling the initial 1,000copies made by hand, Microcosm Publishing offered to distribute their own version of the zine. “The response has been overwhelming,” Caine said. “Between both versions of the zine we’re at 7,500 sales and counting.”
Caine said that the common thread between his writing, bookselling, and advocacyworkis using his voice to shapewhat he does. “I began to develop that voice at Wooster,” he said, particularly through working on his I.S.Caine described that voice as one that is questioning and curious.“I frequently start to write as a way to attempttoanswer the question of how I feel about a subject, especially a subject that gives me mixed feelings,” he said.“I wrote about the stuff in my I.S.because I didn’t know exactly what to feel about it, and I used writing to explore that. I still do that today.”
Photo of Danny Caine, courtesy of Colin MacMillan
Posted in Alumni on February 14, 2020.
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