Story and photos by Logan Jackson
- Josiah Anderson – sophomore English major
- Mentor: Phong Nguyen, professor of English and Miller Family Endowed Chair of Writing
An avid reader throughout high school, Josiah Anderson also spent plenty of time crafting his own stories. Anderson has continued his storytelling pursuits as a student at the University of Missouri and, this summer, is exploring those interests even further.
Through the Cherng Summer Scholars program, Anderson is developing three short stories centered around the theme of dysfunctional love.
“I’ve always written but I never really considered myself a writer until about halfway through high school,” said Anderson, a sophomore English major. “I told myself that I would try to write about a page a day with the goal of finishing a book in a year. I got about 80 days in and was having a ton of fun and wanted to write way more. I realized that even if I don’t make a career out of writing, it’s something that I’ll be doing until the day I die.”
A nine-week research or creative scholarship program for Mizzou students who are pursuing the Honors Certificate, the Cherng Summer Scholars program allows students to participate in individually designed projects under the mentorship of a Mizzou faculty member. The program is supported by a gift from Peggy and Andrew Cherng and the Panda Charitable Foundation.
Anderson is being mentored by Phong Nguyen, a professor of English and the Miller Family Endowed Chair of Writing.
“There’s a community out there for me tied to writing, but it’s not often that I get to overlap with students in completely different fields,” Anderson said. “The Cherng Summer Scholars program has been really cool in that regard. It’s been neat to meet my peers and learn about their passions. I’m appreciative of those interactions and the community aspect of this program has been incredibly valuable.”
Anderson’s short stories will be in different genres – realistic fiction, horror and a more artistic version of realistic fiction. While the stories will stand alone, Anderson said the goal is for the trio to form a complete arc. He is currently reading a variety of short stories and studying how those storytelling methods differ from longform writing.
“I’ve really been trying to get into that mindset and understand how authors have been effective with short stories,” Anderson said. “That’s definitely not my primary medium. I enjoy writing novels and do a lot more longform storytelling.”
Dysfunctional love is something that Anderson has been interested in exploring for a while. He said the scholarship has offered him the perfect opportunity to examine that theme. It’s also allowing him play with different story structures.
“I have a folder on my phone with a whole bunch of story ideas, and I had a couple of thoughts on this topic,” Anderson said. “I’m really enamored by the idea of dysfunctional love. The way we express love for each other isn’t always this fairy tale, and it often doesn’t look how we want it to.
“Tackling this theme through a different medium than I typically use has been challenging but also very rewarding. I’ve learned a lot and feel like I’ve grown through the process.”