Breakfast with the President

One of the great things about going to a small school like Susquehanna is the accessibility of our professors. We are lucky to have a very accessible president as well. President Lemons is notorious on campus for his friendliness towards students and stunning ability to remember students’ names, as well as his annual Twas the Night Before Christmas reading before winter break. 

Over the course of their senior year, all students are invited by President Lemons to a breakfast or a lunch. In a way, these meals serve as a focus group for students to share their experiences with Susquehanna—good and bad—with someone who has the power to make change. I went to this breakfast with a group of students last Friday. I thought it might be interesting to share some of the reflections that breakfast prompted.

The first question we were asked was how and why we chose Susquehanna. I was initially drawn to Susquehanna by its creative writing program. As a high school student, I attended two of the summer writing workshops held at SU, which helped contribute to my love of the place as well as my confidence that a Creative Writing major, not some English major with a creative writing concentration, was what I wanted. Of course, I could’ve studied Creative Writing somewhere else. Though I may want to say that the particulars of SU’s Creative Writing program is what sold me, that isn’t true. It was the Susquehanna atmosphere. The other school I was considering just didn’t compare in terms of the feeling it gave me. Thankfully, Susquehanna offered me an assistantship scholarship where I would get work experience in the University Communications office that helped make the school the sound choice as well.

Though the Creative Writing program is what drew me here, it’s amazing to think of all the great things I’ve experienced outside the department—things I didn’t even consider when I enrolled! In particular, I think about how enriching my Religious Studies major is and how I might not have ended up adding a second major in the field at another school, where I wouldn’t have encountered the same, wonderful faculty or may not have been encouraged to enroll in a religion class for Central Curriculum credits.

The second question we were asked was our favorite part of Susquehanna. Though it felt very cliché to say so, I had to be honest. My favorite part is the people. I was blessed to meet really great people my freshman year of college in Hassinger Hall. Every year since, I’ve lived with some combination of these people, and still, all my closest friends lived with me on the third floor. Our friendships, however, have blossomed since then, and we have lived so much of our college lives together. The faculty figure into that favorite people answer as well.

During our breakfast, I specifically mentioned how great I’ve found all the Religion faculty members. I’ve enjoyed every one of the professors I’ve had through the department and have gotten into great conversations with many of them. I’ve taken three courses with one of the professors who has really helped shape the way I approach Scripture, particularly in terms of feminist issues. She is currently advising me on my capstone, and I love getting to meet with her to discuss the ideas I’m exploring. She has also been happy to talk to me about careers and graduate school. Another one of the professors has talked with me various times about vocation and my future when he served as our interim chaplain. He also took a friend and I out to lunch to discuss how to give rebuttals to sexist ideas about female leadership in the church. When I had class with Rabbi Palley on Intro to Judaism, she gave a friend and I encouraging words about being progressive women within a faith community.

The third question asked what I would change about Susquehanna. Though Susquehanna isn’t perfect, and I did have an answer ready for that, it felt notable that I wasn’t able to choose from a long string of complaints. Susquehanna is and has been the right school for me; that's something I will be able to say with confidence as I graduate.

I know a lot of people don't have a college experience like this. Their college might be a school, but it never feels like a home. Some people I know don't like their colleges at all and are counting down until they can get out of there. I know other people who don't get the right school on the first try and eventually transfer to some place that makes them happier.

I am quite privileged to have had this warm, positive experience of college life ever since I walked on campus in August 2010.

Such a Senior

It’s been quite a while since I last posted on this blog! Sorry about that, senior year has been pretty busy. The second semester is now in full swing, and at the end of next week, I'll be heading home for Spring Break. How quickly this semester is going is a bit nauseating, to be honest.The last time I posted, I referenced that I hoped to be in graduate school next year. Things have changed a little since then. I decided that I wanted to take a step back and give graduate school more consideration before plunging right into it, especially because I wasn't sure if I wanted to get an M.A. in Religious Studies, a Master of Theological Studies, or a Master of Divinity degree. I had applied to some international graduate school opportunities, however, but I didn't end up receiving those fellowships.

Nevertheless, I’m still quite excited about what life after graduation has to bring! I will be serving in a program called the Episcopal Service Corps. The Episcopal Service Corps is a ten-month program, organized by the Episcopal Church, where volunteers are placed with internships in non-profit organizations and live together in intentional community. I will be in a program in Milwaukee called Creating for a Cause that brings together volunteers trained in writing, graphic design, photography, etc. to use their creative skills for worthwhile causes. That program will start in August and run until May, much like an academic year. I am very passionate about working with or for the church, and I am hoping the Episcopal Service Corps will help me discern how I want to be doing that in the future.

Besides figuring out some post-graduation plans, this semester has been filled with plenty of other activities that scream SENIOR! Just last week, I had my senior reading. All creative writing majors read about ten minutes of the work they've completed during their time at SU in a senior reading. These readings are spread across the whole year, with five to six majors reading at each event. I shared six poems. I was really satisfied with how the night went. It was especially fun that I was able to get some laughs from the crowd.

I’ve been up to some senior shenanigans for my other major as well. This semester, I am completing a 4-credit capstone project for my Religious Studies major. “Capstone” is what we call our final or culminating undergraduate projects in our fields. I’m endeavoring to write a 40-plus page paper that challenges some of the underlying notions about emotion in popular Christian advice books on dating and relationships. I love working on this project, even if the prospect of getting it all finished is overwhelming. The other day I was poring over feminist theology books in the library before meeting my friends for dinner. I was so passionate about what I was doing, I was practically bouncing in the cafeteria with capstone excitement.

Of course, there is much more to senior year than these academic components. As graduation draws nearer, I’m getting more sentimental about no longer being able to live with my great friends. A while ago, we had our Senior Convocation, which was a dinner event marking 100 days until graduation. That certainly made everything feel more real. Though I'm looking forward to meeting new people and diving into new opportunities, I'm also not at all ready for my Susquehanna experience to end.

Introducing a Visiting Writer

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, and of course, college being fairly busy and fast-faced, a lot has happened in that time! One of the things that stands out most, though, is that I got to introduce a visiting writer.

Susquehanna’s writing department brings in a series of visiting writers each year, spanning across genres. These writers do Q & A sessions with students in the afternoon and then have a reading in the evening. At each reading, a selected creative writing student always introduces the author before they take the stage. I was surprised when I received an email from the head of the department asking me to introduce Alison Stine.

Alison Stine is a poet who has had two full-length collections and one chapbook published. For my Advanced Poetry course, we read her book Ohio Violence, which I enjoyed. Though I was honored that my poetry professor had thought to refer me for this task, I was also very nervous! I still don’t feel as if I’m very articulate when discussing poetry, and I felt like I had no idea what or how much to say. Thankfully, the introduction started to shape up when I began thinking about my personal connection with Stine. Stine, particularly with her first collection, explores some teenage female experience, and in interviews, had really embraced a young readership. I loved that. I, too, write about young female experiences. In my collection for Advanced Poetry right now, I sometimes examine figures of teenage pop culture (Nick Jonas, Corbin Bleu, etc.). Other poems are inspired by my experiences, as a teenager and as a young adult, of trying to measure up to standards of what a “good Christian girl” should be. These aren’t necessarily the topics poetry critics are always interested in—but Stine’s work reminds me that I don’t need to write for them and that these youthful experiences can be imbued with beautiful language and complexity. Finding this connection allowed me to tap into a passion that I think, judging by some of the comments I received after the reading, really came across in my introduction.

Because I was introducing Alison Stine, I was invited to go to a dinner before the reading with her and some of the Creative Writing faculty at BJ’s. This was a bit nerve-wracking for me because I’m not the most extroverted person. However, I think it went well. I also was able to bring a friend with me (who is much more extroverted than me fortunately), which made it more comfortable.

This scenario, along with this whole semester, has led me to reflect more on what it might be like to pursue poetry professionally. Though I’ve been growing more and more comfortable considering myself a “poet” as my time at Susquehanna goes on, I think this semester I have spent much more time imagining being a professional poet as a possibility. One day—possibly—I could be the person giving a reading and being introduced by a student. Over winter break, I plan on going through the poetry I’ve written for my Advanced and Intermediate poetry workshops and finding poems I think might be ready to be sent out to magazines. In the world of poetry, you usually need a number of poems published before you can pursue chapbook-length or book-length publication, so this is an important step. 

I have one poem that is forthcoming in an issue of a small journal called the Saint Katherine Review, which I look forward to seeing in print. Last year, my Intermediate Poetry professor recommended the journal as a place to submit one of my poems. The editor of the review is Scott Cairns. Just recently I picked up some of his poetry from the library, and I am loving it so far! He tackles religious and spiritual subject matter in a beautiful way. It’s exciting to know that someone whose work I admire has read my work--and it's particularly exciting to think about a future where there may be many more people who read my work (even if that poetry audience is quite smaller than fiction or nonfiction's).   

Advanced Poetry

All Creative Writing majors must take at least one advanced course during their time at Susquehanna. I chose to take Advanced Poetry, which would surely surprise my freshman year self who was so set on taking Susquehanna's novel writing course. Advanced Poetry has about eight students, and it’s a night class that happens once a week. During class, we usually discuss at least one book of poems, do some sort of poetry exercise to generate more material, and workshop (which is discussing someone's work and critiquing it) some of our classmates’ poems. By the end of the semester, we will all have completed drafts of book-length poetry collections. This means writing a lot of poems—about fifty pages or so of material!

In our class, we are aiming to create coherent collections revolving around some central ideas, images, themes, or sources, rather than collections that are merely our best work slapped together. The thread holding my collection together keeps changing as I continue to work on it. At the beginning of the semester, I had decided I wanted to use pop culture, specifically pop culture aimed at a female teenage audience, as a source. I turned in 4 poems for workshop that were pop culture-inspired. After my workshop, I didn’t feel as if my subject was working. The poems weren’t conveying what I wanted them to say--mostly because I wasn't sure what I wanted them to say. I knew, though, what people were reading into it wasn't what I had intended. I decided to go back to the drawing board and was attracted to the idea of sacraments. Writing about pop culture had been my attempt to remove myself from my usual subjects—religion, theology, etc.—but I was drawn back anyway!

During my next workshop (for this one, I had to turn in fifteen pages of poems), my professor and some of the other students suggested that I could bring these subjects together. Their comments have allowed me to see a broader concept behind my collection. I intend to explore topics like performance, the truth or transformation that accompanies performance, ritual and worship in religious and pop culture settings.  I also felt encouraged by that workshop to dive into my subject matter on a more personal level. The poems I submitted to my class bounced around between different fictional speakers, but many were reading them as if they were one speaker and wanted to know more about that speaker. In my next set of poems due for class, I'm experimenting with drawing more directly from my own experiences. 

This Friday, I’ll be turning in that next set of poems--another fifteen pages. It’ll be interesting to hear what the class has to say! I’m not quite sure how I feel about many of these poems, so I think whatever their reactions are, it’ll be a lot of help.

Right now the prospect of finishing a book-length poetry collection is fairly daunting, but I’m sure I’ll be happy I was pushed to do so when I have so much to work with once the class is completed. I hope this will provide me with the motivation--and the material--to more seriously pursue poetry publication.

Winding Down

Classes are winding down now. I had my last Travel Writing course yesterday. Today is the last meeting of Tuesday/Thursday courses, and on Monday and Tuesday of next week, there will be two more days of Monday/Wednesday/Friday classes. After that, there’s a reading day on Wednesday, which is a day between classes and finals for studying, then finals.

I’ve been fortunate to have some really great courses this semester. I’m really happy creatively with the work I’ve been doing in Intermediate Poetry. I’ve absolutely loved my Women in Biblical Tradition class, which has been consistently engaging and has challenged my own views. My Fiction of C.S. Lewis class has also been filled with interesting conversations, and I’m so glad I’ve finally read these books that I kept meaning to read. Music in Christian Rituals has been good as well, and, again, gave me a lot to mull over.  What’s neat for me about my religion classes is that they’re not simply subjects I pick up in the classroom and forget about later. They bleed into the rest of my life. Often our conversations in classes intersect with things I’m working through in my own head or the conversations I’m having with friends and people in my community.

Despite having a nice schedule this semester, I have to admit that I’m excited for it to end. I’ve been pretty stressed the past few weeks. While I’ve been doing well in my classes, I have felt overwhelmed a lot this semester. Thankfully, a blissful, homework-free state is visible in the horizon, though I have to tackle end-of-the-year assignments before I can get there.

Tomorrow my friend Karen and I are presenting a hymn that we wrote for our Music in Christian Rituals class. It was an overwhelming assignment to receive, but I’m excited about what we’ve accomplished. She composed it, and I wrote the lyrics. After the presentation is out of the way, we have to write a joint paper on the project.

I also have to write a final paper for Women in Biblical Tradition, revise my Travel Writing essay and do a self-critique on it, take a final for Fiction of C.S. Lewis, and turn in a chapbook of poetry for Intermediate Poetry.

Once these are done, I’ll be spending a relaxing week on campus before heading to a week of camp in New York with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship chapters from around Pennsylvania. Those weeks will be a great break between my schoolwork this semester and my 40-hour work week here in Selinsgrove this summer.

Before I close out what is probably final blog entry for the school year, I should probably reflect on the year as a whole, but right now, the task seems too difficult. This year has been strange, with ups and downs, split between two continents.  One semester was filled with exciting firsts and the challenges of adjusting to a new place, but also happened at a more relaxed pace.  This semester has been cozier and homier but also much more stressful.  Perhaps it will be easier to look back at this year after I’ve gotten a little more distance from it.

For now, I’m excited for this academic year to draw to a close—even if it brings me closer to the terrifying reality of being a college senior.

Rivercraft, Grouplove, and Bongo Bongo Dip--An Overview of the Past Few Days

The past few days have been quite busy, but some fun and exciting things happened that I feel like sharing!

Last night was the launch of one of the main on-campus literary magazines, Rivercraft, which was exciting since I had my poem, “Wings,” published in it. I submitted to the magazine both my freshman and sophomore years, but this was my first year getting into the magazine. I was one of the students who read at the launch. I don’t know why I find it so nerve-wracking to read my poetry in front of other people, but it was—even though I had already read this poem previously at an open mic of a university poetry society while I was abroad. I now have a copy of the magazine, and I’m excited to be able to look through the work of my peers when I have the time.

The night before, Sunday, I joined the honor society for Religion students, Theta Alpha Kappa. Because the Religion major is small, the society itself is also very small, so we didn’t have a big initiation like some other honor societies have. Instead, we had something that I think was preferable. The new members, as well as the one previously inducted member, went to dinner with two members of the religion faculty.

We went to BJs, which is probably the most popular restaurant in downtown Selinsgrove. Students go there a lot, but I had actually never been there before. Everyone was astounded that it was my first time and made sure that we ordered Bongo Bongo dip, one of BJ’s signature foods, as an appetizer. It was delicious, as was the Club Chicken Sandwich I ordered. During the dinner, we were given certificates of membership for Theta Alpha Kappa. While we there, the university’s president, President Lemons, also happened to be at BJs for a dinner. He stopped by and congratulated us. All in all, it was really nice to be able to have this dinner (which was free—always a big plus for a college student) with some of my fellow Religion majors and two of my professors whose classes I really enjoy.

After the dinner, a friend and I headed over to Susquehanna’s spring concert at TRAX, the campus night club. The band performing was Grouplove, who is most known for their song “Tongue-Tied.” We missed the opening act, but I’m very glad that we went anyway. I didn’t know most of Grouplove’s songs, but I was very impressed with them and enjoyed myself a lot. It was also a free show for Susquehanna students, which made it even better.

On Saturday I was a small group leader in Lutheran Youth Day, an annual event where Lutheran middle and high school students visit campus to study the Bible, worship, etc. This was my third year volunteering at Lutheran Youth Day and it was a fun experience, just like the two previous years. It was also exhausting since the day runs from about 10 a.m. to past 5 p.m. In addition to leading a small group of high school students, I was also a part of a skit with a religious life group called Acts 29 that does drama and children’s ministry.

Other than some fun events here and there, it’s that time of semester where there’s just a ton of work! Hopefully that won’t get too heavy and I’ll be able to enjoy the last few weeks as a college junior.

Approaching Senior Year

I recently completed registration for Fall 2013, the first semester of my last year at Susquehanna. Though facing senior year is terrifying and I am not at all ready for my college experience to end, I’m also excited for next year as well.

In the fall, I’ll be taking my Senior Writing Portfolio course, which is a course all Creative Writing majors must take. It’ll be interesting to have the opportunity to look at how I’ve changed as a writer and what I’ve accomplished writing-wise over my college career.  I’ll also be taking an advanced writing course. I was torn between Advanced Poetry in the fall and Advanced Fiction: Novel in the spring, but I’ve ultimately decided on Advanced Poetry. I feel like my poetry has grown much more while at Susquehanna than my fiction and that taking another poetry course will be more fruitful in developing my skills as a writer.

I will also be finishing up my requirements for the Religion major in the fall semester. It’s so strange to think about how this major is not something I had ever intended on pursuing when I entered college, considering how much I’ve enjoyed it and gained from it. My two classes left to take are actually 100-level courses. Because I didn’t plan on taking the major initially, I ended up taking a lot of upper-level classes that interested me before taking introductory courses. The two courses will be Intro to Judaism and Faiths and Values.

Beyond these courses for my majors, I still have some Central Curriculum requirements to complete. The Central Curriculum requires certain classes in different areas to ensure a well-rounded liberal arts education. One of the requirements is “Analytical Thought,” which typically means some sort of math course. I’ll admit that has been something I’ve been delaying purely because I don’t really enjoy math.  I couldn’t run away from it forever, though, so I’ll finally be taking Intro to Statistics.

During the Spring, I’ll be doing a Capstone project (a final project) for my Religion major. Because I’m a double major this isn’t technically required, but I’m really interested in undertaking a Religion project. I’ve already talked to my Religion major advisor who’s agreed to advise my independent project as well. Right now I’m considering doing something on attitudes towards and alternatives to dating in some subsets of Christian culture—specifically the idea of “courtship”—and analyzing how people apply the Bible, which was written in a culture so far off from any of our romantic norms, to present-day relationships. I’m really excited about this project. Over break I already started compiling a reading list for it, even though I have much more immediate work that needs to be done.

I’ll also be finishing off my final Central Curriculum requirement, an “Oral Intensive” course. I thought I was going to have to take Public Speaking, but I found out that Modern Philosophy also counts towards this requirement. I think that should be really interesting since I haven’t taken a philosophy course yet at SU, even though I’m really intrigued by the subject.  

I’ll also be completing some of the requirements for the Honors program, taking an English class called Forms of Writing to fulfill my final Creative Writing requirement, and taking the Religion department’s New Testament class for fun.

Next year is definitely bound to be busy, but I think there will be some interesting academic highlights within all that work!

Another thing I’ve had to arrange for senior year is housing. As I’m writing this, two friends and I are still awaiting word on our application for a a 3-person townhouse in 18^th Street Commons, Susquehanna’s newest housing development. It’s technically on-campus housing but is designed to have a more off-campus feel.  I really hope we get a space at one of these townhouses.

Both my freshman and sophomore years, it felt strange planning for the next year because time had gone so fast. It has definitely felt that way again this year, but now it’s even stranger since I’m entering my final year as a Susquehanna student.  It’s easy to jump ahead of myself and start wailing about how I don’t want to graduate, this is too soon, etc., that I sometimes forget I do have a whole year left here. Maybe it’ll be the best one yet.

Rathlin Island

Ferry to Rathlin Island!

One of my favorite parts of studying abroad in Northern Ireland was the scenery. Though I got chances to take in the natural beauty all the time—sometimes simply by looking out my bedroom window—one of the best opportunities was on a day trip to Rathlin Island.

Rathlin Island is an island off of Northern Ireland’s North Antrim coast. Some of my flat-mates had gone on a trip there, and they had beautiful pictures. My two flat-mates from Hong Kong, Vicki and Tiffany, invited me to join them on their own trip to the island. To get there, we took a bus from our town, Coleraine, to the town of Ballycastle. Though I don’t think Coleraine and Ballycastle are all that far from each other, it was a lengthy bus ride. We had to hurry to find the ferry terminal in Ballycastle so we could make the ferry we wanted and have enough time to spend on the island. Riding that ferry reminded me of how much I don’t like boats! We spent about forty minutes on the ferry on the way there, and I felt fairly queasy. I’d taken some motion sickness medicine, though, which I’m sure helped me feel a lot better than I would have otherwise.

I was definitely relieved when we made it ashore! It was cold (most of my semester in Northern Ireland was), but a nice day at first, and the island looked gorgeous. We wandered over towards the tourist center and saw that it was closed for the season. That meant we were on our own to make the most of the day.

We ended up following the signs that pointed towards walking paths. One of us also had snagged a brochure that had a color-coded map of the walking trails. We ended up a bit confused along the way. The trail seemed to stop suddenly and didn't take us where the map said it would, and it took us much longer to reach the lighthouse we’d been heading towards than we had expected. The pathways were also much muddier than anticipated! My jeans and shoes were completely covered after the trip.

Even so, it was a great day of wandering through the island and marveling at nature. Included are a few of the photos from my trip. Hopefully you can see what I mean.

The highlight of the trip was definitely getting to see seals. Rathlin Island is known for its wildlife. It has a variety of wild birds, and if you come during the summer months, you can even see a puffin! Because it was the middle of autumn, though, we didn’t get a chance to see puffins. Seeing seals in the wild was more than enough for me. I hadn’t even been that interested in the seals, compared to my two flat-mates, but when we spotted them, I couldn’t stop myself from being thrilled. We stood by the rocks and watched them for a long time. I am pretty sure they were watching us too.

As we were returning the way we had come on the trail, a downpour started. We decided to cut our trip a bit short since we were getting soaked. Of course, as we made our way to the ferry, that was when the rain stopped. At least that gave us a chance to see a fantastic double rainbow.

Once the ferry dropped us off in Ballycastle, we had a little bit of time before the bus to Coleraine came. I remember being quite cold as we went into a small grocery store. I picked up a box of Ritz crackers to eat on the bus ride back to Coleraine. I was excited to get back to my flat, have dinner, get out of my muddy clothes, and be warm. As much as I was itching to get back to my flat, I was happy that I had made the trip to Rathlin Island. All we really did was walk around for a few hours, but in a place like that, walking around is more than enough.

I would love to be able to spend an extended period of time there, though. A Writer's Chair was erected on Rathlin Island to commemorate all the writers who have visited or spent time on the island. I can definitely see why it would attract writers. The views are inspiring, and it's definitely a get-away from everyday life. A week there to work on writing would be a fabulous retreat! Maybe I can make that a reality one day.

The Evolution of a Creative Writing Major

Coming into college, I was very focused on a certain type of writing—fiction, particularly novels. In high school, I completed many Young Adult novels and had completed one novel for middle-school-aged children. Though I knew I’d have to stretch myself in terms of writing other kind of works during my four years at Susquehanna, I figured this would continue to be my creative focus.

Throughout most of my freshman year, I was pretty certain about my aims as a writer. I really enjoyed my Introduction to Fiction class, where we wrote short stories, but I knew it was no coincidence that most of my short stories were on the longer end of the spectrum. Even my professor seemed to recommend elaborating on my stories when they were already over ten pages long. The stories in my head just don’t seem to come out in short story form. I think this is one thing that has remained consistent for me as a writer.  I love fiction, but short story is not my forte. Next year, I need to take a class for my Advanced Writing requirement. I could take Advanced Short Story, but I much prefer the idea of taking the Novel Writing course instead.

However, I certainly haven’t worked on novels at college as much as I had anticipated as an incoming student. I have never been the best at time management, and I think college makes time management all the harder since there’s so much to do. In high school, I could have friends and activities to keep me busy, but ultimately, I went home at the end of the day. When college is your home (at least when school is in session), those things surround you.  Maybe this sounds like I'm making excuses. I might be to an extent. Though I love writing and do think I should be more disciplined, it’s hard to imagine regretting any of the times that I spent immersed in activities important to me or just chatting with friends. I have a whole life of writing ahead of me, but only four years of college.

When I do have time to write now, I usually end up writing poetry. This is not what I expected at all my freshman year. It’s funny that I'm so surprised by it, since looking back at high school, I definitely did write poetry. I never took it seriously, though. Poetry was this complicated thing that I just did poorly as an emotional release—not something I could master. Last school year, though, I began to write poetry more and more frequently and with a bit more seriousness. It especially helped that I began finding poetry that I liked to read. I was still not sure, however, if it was something I should think of as any more than a hobby. My Intro to Poetry class during the spring semester led me to produce some poetry that actually made me feel proud and gave me some validation that, even if I was far from where I wanted to be as a poet, I still had some talent—I had someplace I could start.

Poetry continues to be my genre of choice at the moment.  I am currently in an Intermediate Poetry workshop, where we are working on formulating chapbooks. Chapbooks are small collections of writing, typically under 40 pages. The topic that will tie together my chapbook is women in the Bible. So far I have worked on poetry that explores the perspectives of Mary, Martha, Yael, and Delilah and have also done some poetry that looks at reading the Bible as a woman.  I am very excited about this project and often very inspired by my Women in Biblical Tradition class.

I am interested in pursuing poetry and seeing where it takes me, but I also hope to make more returns, and soon, to fiction, the genre that  really kindled my passion for writing.