By Lily Papendick
The first senior reading of the semester took place on Tuesday, March 18 in the Lore Degenstein Gallery.
Four senior creative writing majors read aloud from select pieces they have written during their time in the program, ranging from expressive performance poetry to humorous personal essays.
The night started promptly at 7 p.m. with a wonderful opening by Professor Monica Prince, followed by Professors Glen Retief and Karla Kelsey giving alternating introductions for each student.
Sean MacPhee, a creative writing major with minors in film and honors, performed the first reading of the night, an essay that chronicled the narrator’s time in a mental institution. With vivid characters such as Kurt Russell and “Gay Tommy,” MacPhee’s piece was sprinkled with a quirky mix of dry humor and touching moments. The narrator ultimately concluded that he “has everything to live for, most of all [himself].” His advice for future creative writing students was “to set your own limits and your own deadlines. That’s how you get better.”
The second reading was performed by Kendall Reif, who Professor Kelsey described as having a “keen sense of the macabre.” A creative writing major with minors in religious studies and publishing & editing, Reif read three poems as well as an excerpt from her short story. Her poem, “Kinship with the Fallen Angel,” was particularly moving, as it drew on themes from the famous painting by Alexandre Cabanel with the addition of a unique twist by Reif, who discussed how she sympathized with the Fallen Angel. Her advice: “Be proud of all your work, no matter how old they are. Cringe is dead. Share your evolution with pride.”
To shed some light on the night came creative writing major Colton Cook and his essay “Lessons of Growth,” which recounted Cook’s earlier childhood mishaps and the messages he took from them, stating that “everyone was young once and has to learn how the world works.” His piece elicited much laughter from the audience, especially in his second lesson “not orange doesn’t equal not hot.” Cook told the story of his four-year-old self’s encounter with an oven mitt and a hot stovetop, even pulling out the oven mitt as evidence of his tale. Cook recommended to “just throw yourself into it. Get ideas on a page and grow from there.”
The night concluded with two readings from Tori Vile, a creative writing major with minors in film and Asian studies, who advised the audience to “be unapologetically who you are and do what you do best.” Her pieces “Two Inches” and “Bad Miracles” were deeply moving and touched upon complicated themes of loss and resilience. Vile interwove her discussion of being legally blind right into how her aunt’s passing related to the 2022 film “Nope.”
The next senior reading will take place in April in the Lore Degenstein Gallery. The celebration of these students’ hard work and dedication is not something you want to miss.