By Juliana Kropinack
On Tuesday, Sept. 8th, Susquehanna Creative Writing students were presented with a treat in Stretansky Concert Hall:a presentation of writings from the Creative Writing Faculty in a variety of genres, including poetry, short stories, and creative nonfiction. With opening statements made by Dr. Catherine Dent welcoming in the new school year and the newest members of the department, students were thanked for coming to the event and encouraged to enjoy the evening. The faculty were all introduced to the students and were brought upon stage to perform their pieces for an eagerly awaiting audience.
First up was Professor Sean Ironman, presenting a piece of creative nonfiction entitled “That You May Be Healed”. This piece was part of his current work-in-progress, and upon the introduction of the piece to the crowd, he affectionately referred to it as his “garbage essay,” reminding the students that it is normal (and okay!) to write work that you consider to be less than your best. Granted, not a student in the room could say that Professor Ironman’s piece was bad. Full of precise imagery and in-depth exploration of the connections between youth, religion, morality, and death, the piece examined the close relationships we can all have with our own ideas and philosophies and concluded with a round of applause from the entire audience.
Following this reading, Professor Monica Prince arrived onstage and gave a powerful, interactive reading of four of her poems: “Zeptosecond (against Twitter’s wishes)”, “During The Most Painful Period of My Thirties, I Send My Uterus A Threatening Letter, “An Acrostic in the Shape of a Golden Shovel to Dig a Grave”, and “Why I Don’t Wear My Afro Around White People Anymore”. Consisting of a love poem dedicated to her partner (who was mentioned as quite chagrined at being unable to attend the event), a passionate refrain of half anger, half sympathy for the speaker’s pain during their period, a poem of grief, anger, and remorse relating to an ex-beloved, and a powerful piece expressing rightful anger at invasions of personal space and identity, the presentation resulted in quite a bit of clapping, cheering, and snapping fingers from the enthralled audience. Taking from the traditions of slam poetry, Professor Prince encouraged this interaction and kept the whole audience expressing appreciation for the messages of the poems throughout her performance.
Next up was Professor Daniel Uncapher, performing a collage essay titled “Fairyland”. Drawing specific quotes and words from works in the public domain, the Professor was able to pull together a seamless piece telling the story and history of the titular Fairyland, including the differences between Fairyland and our own world. By utilizing a clicker (after making a few Pavlov-related jokes to the intrigued audience) at any point in which the source of the quote was switched, the students were able to both see and hear the many different sources that went into the creation of this piece. This drew together a complex piece of patchwork writing, both funny and poignant, that had the entire audience captivated.
After Professor Uncapher’s performance came the head of the Creative Writing Department and the hostess of the night, Dr. Dent. Performing a piece of flash fiction entitled “Revelation Knowledge”, Dr. Dent was able to take on the tone and stature of a preacher, entangling religion, dark humor, and her self-declared current fascination with gongorism together into one piece. Telling the story of a morally corrupt preacher who shares his own interpretations of the word of God with a crowd of eager listeners, Dr. Dent wrote a powerful story shared in a tense, strong tone, enrapturing the audience in her reading just as much as the audience in her story was dedicated to the preaching of her characters.
Upon the conclusion of applause for Dr. Dent’s piece, Dr. Karla Kelsey arrived onstage to read her prose poem, “Who Crouches in Stone Foliage”. This piece consisted of five parts, each part consisting of one hundred words. Combining vivid, lush imagery with a tone of a mystical, almost dreamlike state, Dr. Kelsey held the attention of the entire audience throughout her piece as she described a mysterious world of untold stories and the power of women growing into their own being. In exploring the concept of the self through the eyes of a narrator who sees the world in all its complexity, the piece was both beautiful and cerebral, allowing the audience a peek into the complex world of prose poetry.
Finally, to conclude the night, Professor Silas Zobel presented a piece of flash fiction called “The Mailboat”, a piece that he described as currently being under “heavy revision”. In this, he reminded students the importance of sharing new work, even work that the author may still find unfinished, in order to receive feedback and encourage the process; although, to the students in the room, the story felt anything but unfinished. Telling a touching story about a father and son’s relationship over time, the writing of the piece was evocative and emotional, with specific descriptions of the scenery and the physical states of the characters providing the audiences with a clear mental image-something that only added to the emotional reconciliation at the end of the story.
Overall, the night was an astounding success, with each of the faculty in the department showing off some of their work, old and new, to the student body to welcome ina new academic year. Teaching valuable lessons both in and out of the classroom, these professors made sure to stay after to answer any questions students may have had, as well as compliment each other on their work and performances, continuing to the ever-strengthening community of the Creative Writing Department. From the Creative Writing faculty to their students: here’s to a new year of writing, revision, community, and improvement!