There’s a spot in the Rindge Memorial School library that Eva Quill hopes to fill one day.
When she was in fifth grade, then librarian Susan Kintz said something that has stuck with her through the years.
“She told me she was going to save a spot under Q for the book I’m going to write,” Quill said.
She’s never forgotten that moment, even though she hasn’t been a student at Rindge Memorial for more than a decade and is now a senior at Keene State College with a dual major in English and Secondary Education. One of the reasons it has stuck with her this long is because Quill has always wanted to be a published author.
When she was about six years old, her dad put his old computer in the corner of her bedroom and it only helped foster her love for the written word.
“I would just lay on my stomach and type,” Quill said.
Her love of writing has evolved and grown over time. She carries around a journal to make sure none of her ideas ever escape her train of thought because she never knows when something is going to motivate her. Quill could read before she got to kindergarten and still remembers putting together little stories in her early years of school. It was something that came natural and brought her an indescribable sense of enjoyment.
“It’s just that feeling it gave me,” she said.
These days, her work is more refined, as she deals almost exclusively in the world of poetry and creative writing – outside of what her professors assign for class.
“My goal was to do something with English because English has been a passion my entire life,” Quill said.
Ask Quill what her perfect day would include and the answer is quick and to the point.
“It would be to spend the whole day at a bookstore or a library without anything else to do so I can just wander around and look at books,” Quill said.
Her love of writing is only matched by her quest to find the next great read.
“If it looks good to me, I’ll read it,” Quill said.
It’s not always easy to find time to write on a personal level, but when she does there’s always a steady stream of ideas at the ready for when those creative juices start flowing.
Just last week, Quill took the song “Eastside” by Halsey and Khalid and dove a little deeper into the story, writing something from the perspective of those in the song. It wasn’t for any assignment, but just something she finally decided to put down on paper.
“If I write it or not, everything and everywhere can inspire me,” Quill said. “Sometimes it really hits me and I have to write it.”
A lot of the poetry she writes is based on personal experiences. That can be said about a lot of poets, but that’s just what drives Quill to create. Looking deeper into her own life and what she’s gone through because there’s been sadness and frustrations, glimpses into prior relationships with others and what comes out is a unique perspective for someone who has yet to graduate college.
Quill recently read some of her work at the New Hampshire Poetry Festival in Henniker, choosing a selection from the manuscript she submitted to win the Eder Creative Writing Award at Keene State last year, which gave her almost $5,000 toward tuition.
“Someone told me it as coming up again and I should apply for it,” Quill said. “But I never win anything. I don’t win scratch tickets, carnival prizes.
But she decided to apply anyway – the night before it was due.
“It was mostly poetry, but I included an excerpt from a YA novel I’ve been working on,” she said.
While Quill has always enjoyed creative writing, it wasn’t until her sophomore year at Keene State that she gained an appreciation for poetry. Until that point, she almost looked down on poetry.
“I just ran with it. I found it was something I could actually do really well,” Quill said.
Quill loves to write, but she understands that she won’t graduate in May and instantly step into a career as a writer. She hopes to teach and eventually get published, which she believes will lead to a life as a best-selling author. One day she’ll submit something and see what happens, but she has plenty of time to figure it all out.
“It would be amazing to make money for my writing,” she said.
Quill will be the first to tell you that she’s nosy and wants to know everything. She’s a people watcher, always on the lookout for something unique about a person at first glance.
“It’s that glimpse into people’s lives, their stories,” Quill said. “Observing other people can remind you that there are other stories than your own.”
She loves to sing, although its mostly done on her way to class, in the car or at home. She’s played the flute since she was nine, taking lessons at Rousseau’s Music Store & Lesson Studio in Jaffrey.
She grew up in Rindge, but now calls Peterborough home. She went to Jaffrey-Rindge Middle School and Conant High School, playing four years of varsity field hockey.
Quill will never turn down a road trip, but doesn’t see herself leaving the area after graduation.
But someday her writing will take her places – hopefully to the bookshelves at Rindge Memorial and beyond.