K College English Department shows its vulnerable side

Audience: The Index

Dr. Gail Griffin, Professor of English at Kalamazoo College, confessed to nearly 80 K students, “tonight we make ourselves vulnerable,” speaking on behalf of the Kalamazoo College English Department. Faculty members gathered in the Olmsted Room at 7 p.m. on January 27 to read short excerpts from personal works of poetry, non-fiction and fiction, and to “generate some light” during a dispiriting winter quarter, according to Griffin.

All department faculty members were present, with the exception of Amy Smith, Associate Professor of English, who is currently on sabbatical. The department welcomed two new members this year, Amy Rodgers, postdoctoral teaching fellow, and Beth Marzoni, both visiting instructors.

Griffin opened the event with a few words about the evening and introduced the first speaker, Dr. Andy Mozina, chair of the department, who read an excerpt from his fictional piece, “My Non-Sexual Affair.” Mozina drew laughs from the student crowd with a description of his non-sexual love affair with a woman named Linda, which he comes to realize is just a special friendship.

Marin Heinritz, Glenn Deutsch, Amelia Katanski, Babli Sinha, Bruce Mills and Amy Rodgers read excerpts from current works of non-fiction. Sinha's conference paper analyzing the role of Indian women in modern media and technology stood out among the other readings that were, in contrast to hers, very representative of her colleagues' personalities and experiences.

Deutsch read a piece about his vulgar father, Melvin, “wanting to be a red neck but being from Brooklyn,” as narrated by a 14 year-old Deutsch in 1969. Katanski spoke about her uncle’s life, which she connected to the four noble truths of Buddhism, and Heinritz read an excerpt from the coming-of-age memoir about her defeat of cancer at 17, highlighting her mother’s character with great expression.

Diane Seuss, the College’s writer-in-residence, read from her next collection, a response to an article in the New Yorker about William Burroughs called “I Dreamed I Met William Burroughs.” Seuss’s response, “It Wasn’t a Dream I Knew William Burroughs,” was a graphic and humorous illustration of porn and heroine, tuna fish sandwich cravings during pregnancy, and “condescending assholes” which served to expose her counter belief that Burroughs, an addict, was a poor influence on everyone including her boyfriend. She read a second piece called “Birthday Confessions”, written as a series of confessions to a priest, which drew chronic laughter from the audience.

Rodgers, a Shakespeare and film expert, comes to the College passionate to teach drama. She is currently working on a play about Robert Frost’s son Carol, who committed suicide in 1940. Marzoni’s work focuses on contemporary poetry and creative writing. Her poem, “Rothko’s Room”, was inspired by an exhibition by artist Mark Rothko at the Tate Modern Art Museum in London.

Griffin has been at work on a novel about the murder-suicide that occurred on campus ten years ago. She read from the last chapter which illustrates the aftermath of the deaths of students Maggie Wardle and Neenef Odah. Griffin’s desire to tell the story of their deaths extends beyond her novel; every October, Griffin joins Wardle’s family and K students in Stetson Chapel to reflect as a community.

Mills ended the event with a reading from a book of essays about his son Jacob’s autism, “An Archaeology of Yearning,” in which he explains his conflicting desires and the ability to fill gaps through language.

It’s not often K College professors have the opportunity to read personal works of literature for a group of 80 students to hear. This event served as a reminder that students aren’t the only ones who have a vulnerable side for others to see.