Two Keene State professors read from their written work to a standing-room-only crowd at the Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery on Wednesday, March 29.
Surrealist horror writer Professor Alexandra Itzi and co-faculty advisor for The Equinox Professor Rodger Martin read poems and short stories with a Q&A session that followed.
Itzi read a short story she wrote called “A Haunting,” which was her take on a haunted house story.
Itzi said that she “loved the reading,” saying that it was, “overall a good reading.” Itzi said she liked to write in the horror genre because she liked media with true crime and other scary things. She said that it gives her pleasure.
“I have always been confident, maybe foolishly so, with coming up with ideas and I have struggled a lot with style,” Itzi said about growing as a writer. “I feel like I have matured.”
When asked how to begin a career as a writer, Itzi advised new-coming writers to “read read read, write write write and to find community. If you like science fiction, read so much science fiction. If you like fantasy, same thing. You need to know what is out there, what people are doing, what makes you happy to read, and what does not make you happy to read. Then find people who are also crazy about writing.”
Itzi said what she loves most about being a writer is “the creativity of it. The excitement that comes along with writing something nerdy,” and also, “community.”
Itzi said that she is willing to do more of the reading events. “I think they are a lot of fun.”
Martin read a few of his poems from books such as ‘For All the Tea in Zhongguo’ and ‘The Battlefield Guide.’ Martin talked about the translation of poetry, particularly from Mandarin, but also German. He said that one German poem had a completely literal English translation which took out the nuance of the poem and led him to write his own translation.
Along with the English Department, the English Honor Society, Sigma Tau Delta, took part in hosting the reading event. The president of Sigma Tau Delta, junior Teraysa Majewski, said she enjoyed the reading very much.
“I am always so happy to get involved, especially with writers who are aiming to share what they are writing with the community,” Majewski said. “I think that the most important part of being a writer is being able to share with people who want to listen and want to enjoy it.”
Majewski said that she has had nothing but positive feedback for the reading and that it was a great opportunity with a nice turnout.
She said that she would absolutely host another event like this one. A few months ago, Sigma Tau Delta hosted slam poetry at the Night Owl Café and got a much better attendance than expected.
“Now that I am getting better at learning how to get the word out for stuff like this I am thinking the numbers can only get higher,” Majewski said.
She added that she encourages more writers to attend these kinds of events, stating that she believes it is a positive outlet for writers.
“I think even attending means so much to both yourself, the people presenting and the people around you,” Majewski said. There were writers in the audience of the event, such as students from both Itzi’s and Martin’s classes.
First-year student Grace Clark was one writer in the audience. “I definitely enjoyed it,” Clark said. “I really like seeing professionals in their work.” Clark said that she would attend an event like this again.
Nico Brazill can be contacted at
nbrazill@kscequinox.com
