The written word: It's a mechanism for people to reveal their innermost thoughts and is a tool of self-expression almost everyone has the natural instinct to gravitate toward. Just ask Allison Joseph - poet, creative writing professor and co-editor of the Crab Orchard Review literary journal at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

"If you think about when a major tragedy strikes this country � people want something that speaks to their experiences. They'll turn to poetry. That's one of the few times they'll turn to poetry," Joseph said. "The impulse in human beings will never die. People always want to reach for utterance in expression."

Working with a small staff to assemble a bi-annual journal, Joseph, a faculty member of SIUC's English department since 1994, gets to hear a good deal of that expression - roughly 13,000 poems and 7,000 narratives worth of it each year.

"Reading it is a task, because it's the kind of reading that forces you to pay attention," she said. "I'd say 45 percent is work we really have to take a strong look at and merits attention."

But the reading is also a pleasure, Joseph added.

Part of the pleasure comes from her sheer love of writing, a passion she's held since she was 13 growing up in the Bronx of New York City; the other part comes from a pleasant niche she said she's found in Southern Illinois and at SIUC.

Fond feelings for the university have seeped into Joseph's poetry on more than one occasion, particularly reflecting what she feels is the under-appreciated quality that comes from the schools, faculty and students on campus.

"One of the poems I wrote about SIU is called, 'So Where Is It You Teach Again?' because that's always one of the first questions I'm asked," Joseph said. "Even when they hear Southern Illinois University they'll still say, 'Is that near Chicago?'"

Joseph now keeps with her a crude, small map of Illinois to politely correct people.

The area has grown on Joseph in her 12 years at SIUC to the point she describes it as a sanctuary of sorts and, of course, a beautiful and inspirational spot to writers looking for just those things.

"To me, the area represents so much untapped potential. A lot of things are possible here, because it hasn't been done before," Joseph said.

She said while the university community should celebrate its amenities, there is a tendency to gloss over what doesn't work. SIUC has its issues, Joseph said, but it also has good people capable of working them out.

Joseph is a believer in the SIU mission, one who plans to stick around to see things come to fruition.

"Would I change it, would I go to another school? It would take an awful lot," she said.

In the meantime, Joseph will continue to read, to write and, above all, to express - from the heart and onto the paper.

caleb.hale@thesouthern.com

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