Carla Baku

PROFILE: The sounds of silence can be deafening. Like many creative writers, Carla Baku seems to be able to see and feel things others cannot.  Perhaps it harkens back to her days as a small town pre-teen, when her parents split up and she was quietly left alone for long periods. The pain and loneliness she felt allowed her mind and heart to open, and helped create the inspirational writer, poet, and author she has become.   Carla is a model for the type of student the Foundation sought to help when it began. She was someone who did not have it easy, was intellectually gifted, and had both a heart of gold and street smarts; but without the means to attend college. After attending community college part-time for more than a decade, she finally achieved her associate’s degree. Then she applied to Stanford.  Less than two percent of Stanford transfer applicants are accepted. Carla made the cut, as the university likely saw the same promise in her the Foundation has. At Stanford she didn’t waste a moment: she “squeezed every available drop of creative juice out of the creative writing department.”

INSPIRATION: Though there are many teachers and mentors who come to mind, there are three Carla praises… “Elizabeth Tallent took the first 50 pages of my fledgling novel and made me understand this was an accomplishment that was in the realm of possibility,” she said. “The great poet Robert Bly became my friend and pen pal, and showed me how crucial it is to find the soul in my poetry. Finally, Tobias Wolff, my academic advisor and an iconic American writer, suggested I apply to graduate school at Warren Wilson College - now the next stop in my academic adventure.”

ASPIRATION: To “hone my craft” as a writer . . . and to write, write, and continue to write. Carla would also eventually like to teach at the collegiate level.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE: When Carla graduated from Stanford, she was the oldest person to complete an undergraduate degree in the university's history. Her fellow undergraduates were younger than some of Carla’s children. Of all the many professors she had, only three were older than she was. “My dear husband and all four of my grown sons cheered me on when I graduated,” Carla said. “I felt-and still feel-like the universe has blessed me out of all measure.”

ACCOLADES: Carla was selected to give the commencement address at the graduation ceremony for Stanford’s English Department. Her senior year, she was awarded the Bocock-Guerard Prize for Fiction. During her junior year, she won the Urmy-Hardy Prize for Poetry. Carla was Phi Theta Kappa at College of the Redwoods, where she also earned the Dr. Walter Dolfini Scholarship. 

INTERESTING FACT: If Carla needs to get somebody’s attention, she’ll get it with no problem. “I can whistle through my fingers so loudly it makes peoples ears ring,” she said. “It's a great trick, whether I've needed to call my kids for supper from around the neighborhood, or hail down a city bus.”