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Web Programmer by Day, Novelist by Night

02/22/2016 by Nick Thomas Leave a Comment

Burke Fitzpatrick on IT and Creativity

Burke Fitzpatrick has embraced the total dedication required to be a creative writer and work a full time day job as a web programmer. His nights are filled by furiously writing the next book in his series of “dark fantasy” novels called The Shedim Rebellion – building his world and the characters that inhabit it – and his weekends take up the business side of running Blade Books, the press he founded. He describes his books as a mix of “heroic fantasy and Dante’s Inferno.”

“It’s all creative,” says Fitzpatrick, “you are creating something out of nothing.”

Fantasy Author and EWU Programmer Burke Fitzpatrick
Fantasy Author and EWU Programmer Burke Fitzpatrick (photo Nick Thomas)

The trick to self-publishing is keeping the reader wanting more, and then actually delivering on that. Some writers are able to support themselves writing full time simply by churning out the content. “E-book publishing is mirroring the old pulp paperback business model,” he says. His fifth book in the series is in the works.

A lifelong reader, Fitzpatrick devours a wide range of subjects, from mythology to history. It helped that his mom was an English teacher and his dad an amateur historian. He grew up drawing and painting too, and earned his AA degree in graphic design in the mid 90s, surfing the wave of the dot com bubble.

Eventually he came to EWU and pursued a degree in Computer Science. He needed to be able to support his family, but desperately wanted to develop his creative writing, too. So he took as many literature courses as he could handle. Studying programming, calculus, along with ancient British Literature provided a stimulating, if challenging, counterpart to his STEM classes.

Throughout his undergrad experience he made the most of internship opportunities and work study at EWU, first as a graphic designer for Marketing and Communication, then as IT support, and then programming. Upon earning his degree, this experience led to a full time IT job at EWU, where he has been for 16 years.

Fitzpatrick loves learning, and that’s a good thing, with the tech industry changing rapidly with the move to the Cloud and mobile-based devices now making up half of all internet traffic. “In the IT world,” he says, “you are constantly learning new things.”

“A couple years ago I took JavaScript courses,” he says. He was impressed with the computer science department. “They are placing grads in good jobs right away.”

Wanting to further hone his literary chops, he then earned his Masters in Creative Writing over two and a half years of night classes at EWU’s highly regarded Creative Writing MFA Program.

When asked how coding and writing stories are related, he insists they are closely linked. “It’s all creative,” he says. “You are creating something out of nothing.”

 

 

Filed Under: Academics, College Fit, EWU Tagged With: burke fitzpatrick, creative writing, EWU, ewu computer programing, ewu computer science, ewu mfa, fantasay, IT, it career, shedim rebellion, STEM, writing

EWU's newest arts event: SpoYo

11/10/2015 by Nick Thomas Leave a Comment

Arts and literature are everywhere at EWU, and EWU leads the region in supporting artists and writers. As a student you have a chance to attend and support nationally recognized events like Get Lit! and the Spokane International Film Festival. You can even listen to some of your professors on Public Radio.

On a sunny Saturday fall morning this year, the campus of EWU Spokane buzzed with activity. Children, teens, and parents from around the region converged for a day of celebrating books. They also attended workshops, made crafts, and listened to author readings.

It was all part of SpoYo, the Spokane Youth Books Festival. This is a new event hosted by EWU, and it’s another way EWU students and professors get involved in the Spokane community.

Authors travel to Spokane from all over the country, like Nick Bruel, famed author of the Bad Kitty series. They meet with their fans, give master classes for aspiring writers, and read from their books.

Bad Kitty author Nick Bruel talks books
Bad Kitty author Nick Bruel talks books with young fans (Jeff Bunch photo)

The event was organized by graduate students in the MFA creative writing program, and undergrad and high school students volunteered. The event is actually an offshoot of GetLit!, EWU’s week-long literary festival held each spring. It’s a great chance for EWU students to mingle with authors and get behind-the-scenes access to the authors and ideas that change our world.

If you’re interested in studying with EWU’s award-winning writing and English professors, be sure to check out the EWU English website.

Filed Under: Community, Student Life Tagged With: EWU, ewu events, ewu get lit!, ewu mfa, spoyo!

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