Invasion of Privacy: New advisor for Gandy Dancer, Professor Lytton Smith
Photo Courtesy of Martin Vorel- Wikimedia Commons
Professor Lytton Smith has come into a considerable amount of power recently. As a published poet and as a professor of English and creative writing, he has experience with skilled writing and guiding students towards improvement. And now, these skills will be put to good use as the new faculty advisor for the SUNY-wide literary journal, Gandy Dancer. We sat down with Professor Smith as a poetry exhibition went up behind him.
Even though this is his first year as the main advisor, Professor Smith has some experience with Gandy Dancer. He describes the English department as collaborative by nature and always in communication with each other. Of course, Gandy Dancer is not simply made through professorial collaboration: students act as writers, editors, and publishers at every step in the process. Keeping the student-centered approach in mind, Professor Smith says that he believes the student publishers will gain a lot out of this experience. Many working on Gandy Dancer want to work in the publishing industry in the future, and Professor Smith says students will feel fulfilled by seeing how they can interact with that process.
We also asked Professor Smith about his feelings concerning the importance of literary journals in the SUNY system. He says that often, when facilitating a writing workshop in one of his classes, he feels that it’s unfair that only a small group gets to experience the amazing work done by undergraduates. Literary journals like Gandy Dancer widen this scope, and allow these works to get the recognition they deserve. As a published poet himself, Professor Smith recalls his experience being published for the first time, stating that it was amazing to know that real people were interacting with his work and finding value in places that even he himself did not notice.
Getting back on the subject of the upcoming issue of Gandy Dancer, Professor Smith hopes to make some changes to the process. He encourages students to suggest changes they want as well, keeping Gandy Dancer centered on being student-led. Professor Smith himself hopes a hunger for more literary journals can spawn from the student’s experience writing for and producing Gandy Dancer.
To describe the value that Gandy Dancer brings to the Geneseo and SUNY communities, Professor Smith reflects on the life lessons that can be learned from the process. Students here take their writing very seriously, Professor Smith acknowledges, and the fulfillment from seeing something you have worked hard on in print is an amazing feeling. More than this, writing is a way that experiences, people, and work can be immortalized. In his closing remarks of the interview, Professor Smith quotes the Roman poet Horace, who, on his writing, said, “I have created a monument more lasting than bronze.” This sentiment echoes the professor’s own concerning lifelong lessons and connections.
Just as Professor Smith is excited about taking over Gandy Dancer, we, too, are excited to see the newest issue! All students are encouraged to submit their work to Gandy Dancer by Oct. 8.