Senior Readings conclude
Photo courtesy of Managing Editor, Kendall Cruise
During the final Senior Reading session students were able to appreciate fellow classmates’ work and come together one last time before graduation.
On Tuesday, Apr. 22, and Thursday, Apr. 24, students completing their English (creative writing) program completed the last series of Senior Readings. This is a format done by students in this program every spring semester, where graduating seniors (either for that spring or the upcoming fall semester) are allowed to showcase fiction, poetry, and/or creative nonfiction they have written for audiences to enjoy. Readings took place from 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Doty 300, also known as the Tower Room.
First to go was senior English (creative writing) and adolescence education major Zoe LaVallee. She is also a Sigma Tau Delta member and has been previously published in Gandy Dancer, along with a published poem from the second grade. LaVallee read poetry for the audience, but also is a creative nonfiction essayist. This culmination of works explored the process of growing up and coming-of-age from a myriad of angles, which, in her introduction by fellow reader Lauren McCormick, work to turn the “grotesque into the divine.”
She read a total of eight poem titled “Communion on Lake Simon,” “Teeth,” “Apricots,” “Daisies in Steel,” “To the Flowers in My Garden,” “Me,” a poem about the classic contemporary form of the “Notes-app-poem,” “Table: For my College Apartment,” and “The Electric Eel,” the poem that LaVallee had published in the second grade. The poetry collection felt well-conceptualized, with evocative, taut imagery littering poems and lines.
Following that was senior political science and English (creative writing) double major Lauren McCormick. She also serves as Student Senate Vice President and is celebrating entry into Georgetown Law, which only accepts around 15 students nationwide! For her reading, McCormick read a creative nonfiction essay “for the impossibly irrevocably dead,” which used excerpts and concepts from Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking, about the death of Didion’s husband, to talk about the death/grieving process of the speaker’s horse trainer and mentor. The essay’s themes largely broach the idea that we tend to be more forgiving of people and their flaws after death, making “rewrites” from our grief and the things one might wish they could share or hoped the passed away individual might have known in some way.
In the reading's question-and-answer (Q&A) portion, they were asked how they see the relationship between writing and healing working, as they broached many difficult, heavy, and sad topics. They both note writing as a natural outlet of release, with LaVallee commenting that in revision and expressing these things, writing’s demand to create “writing in a way that feels enjoyable to read back” can help to reframe moments in some ways.
On Apr. 24, the final two readers of the Senior Readings series shared their pieces. First to go was senior English (creative writing) major and musical theatre minor Lucy SanGeorge. They are a member of the all-female A cappella group Hips ‘n Harmony as a lady bass and have been a part of numerous shows/plays/musicals.
For the audience, SanGeorge read a magical realism short story, “Forecasting,” about the main character, Caroline, who has a history of premonition dreams, or “deja vu,” having a nightmare where their hometown, herself, and her family are swept up by a sudden and dangerous tornado. Listeners follow as the story opens up into the nightmare sequence, then follow Caroline as she tries to decide how to approach this potentially predictive nightmare and whether or not it will come true.
SanGeorge’s command of naturalistic dialogue and humor helps to create a piece that balances its surreal concept with a distinctly “slice-of-life” feel. Audiences are left curious and anxious as the story closes with Caroline being comforted by her mother that this nightmare will not come true while beginning to enter a scene like the one read in the opening moments of the nightmare. The open ending was effective and left me, as an audience member, considering many of the same questions Caroline did throughout the short story, like ‘does she actually have premonitions?’ and ‘are they all about to be swept up by a tornado?’
Lastly, but certainly not least, was senior musical theatre and English (creative writing) double major Natalie McKenzie. Who, for their Reading, created what she called a “limited edition,” “senior reading version” of the fantasy story “Blessed.” In this one, McKenzie embraces her horse girl roots and writes a story in a fictional world where noble lady Mathilde is caught between her desire to become a knight and the path that is perceived to be for her due to being a woman.
During the story, we see Mathilde run away from her arranged marriage on her trusty steed, Philipa, named after the world’s horse goddess, to take the recruitment test for the prestigious knight order. While she makes this daring escapade, Mathilde learns that the horse goddess has also blessed her and begins coming into her newfound powers, like communicating with horses.
McKenzie does well in fleshing out such a detailed and expansive world in such a short amount of time. Indicative of a smart and careful writer, it was a pleasure to hear the mechanics of this story unfolding to create a narrative that speaks to the hallmark in many of her stories, including her love of “a feisty main character— girl power.”
Attending this semester’s Senior Readings and covering them for The Lamron was a pleasure. Remember to support your classmates and their endeavors, as there is such an opportunity to be exposed to many lovely and insightful projects!