Sherry Rankin won the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award in 2017. (photo by Hannah Johnson).

Four professors from the language and literature department, named Modern Ink, will present their writing to students, faculty and staff.

Writers’ Night is an event that takes place every spring, where participants have the opportunity to meet with the professors of Modern Ink.

The participating professors are Shelly Sanders, Debbie Williams, Steven Moore and Sherry Rankin.

Rankin, assistant professor of language and literature, said Modern Ink will hold a discussion with the audience, telling them how the group got together, the benefits of a writers’ group and how to manage one.

“I had struggled with writing a novel for years,” Rankin said. “I was stuck on about page 47 after three years of working on it. We formed the writing group, and I had finished it within seven months.”

Sanders, associate professor of language and literature said Modern Ink has been ongoing for four years.

Sanders said this presentation will be helpful for students, as professors will relate to writing problems such as procrastination and balancing writing with family and life.

“We think that writing is a solitary pursuit, but we need community to help keep each other accountable,” Sanders said.

Rankin said the professors of Modern Ink have written a variety of works including short stories, non-fiction, novels, poetry, book reviews and a scholarly book on campaign rhetoric. Some of these works have been awarded.

Rankin won the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award in 2017. Her submission was the first chapter of her novel, “Strange Fire.” To win the award, the writer had to be an unpublished author with an unpublished novel.

“Mine somehow, by some miracle, won,” Rankin said.

Rankin said the award-winning novel is still going through the editing process.

This is the same novel Rankin struggled to write before. She said she did not know about the contest until she finished writing the novel.

Modern Ink will read some of their work to attendees at Writers’ Night, before the beginning of the discussion. During the discussion, participants can ask questions and join the discussion with Modern Ink.

Writers’ Night will take place on 7:30-8:30 p.m. in the core classroom on Thursday.