Faculty Remarks:
Liam van den Hoek (ever the man of few words)
Here is a brief excerpt from the writing that Liam did in one of my creative writing classes. I will remember him always!
– Melissa Malouf“Welcome,” you say to [the new intern], knowing you were about to ruin his summer.”
When a student discovers his or her passion, it’s always a great thing to watch. And that’s what happened this year with Willem van den Hoek (who we knew as ‘Liam’, in the screenwriting class I taught.) Liam was quiet, at first –but always insightful when he spoke, critiquing his colleagues. And then, as the writing bug seemed to bite, he began to produce: one full-length screenplay, the beginning of a second, and an excellent rewrite of his first. This was far more than the amount of work the course required –and best of all, it was good (and, for good measure, varied in subject-matter.) Liam was eager for feedback, from myself and from his colleagues; and he used the notes he got to full advantage. I know he took another screenwriting class, after he’d taken mine; and by mid-point of his senior year, he was now considering applying to graduate school, to pursue his new interest in screenwriting. In the best news of all, he’s been accepted by Emerson College, where he’ll be starting a graduate program in screenwriting in the fall of 2020. It was a real pleasure to watch Liam growing as an artist – experimenting, questioning, always challenging himself. And I expect to hear terrific things of him and his work, in the coming years. – Neal Bell
