Image: Louish Pixel When introducing yourself, the general rule is that who you are is what you “do,” and what you do is what pays the bills. Occupation is inextricably twined with identity. In spite of the fact that my jobs post-college have had nothing to do with poetry, I've qualified my introduction as “poet working… Continue reading Alleliah Nuguid Introduction (Boston University ’16)
Image: Vincent Desjardins As for the poet thing, this is the story I like to tell some people: My grandfather was an art collector. He was the son of farmers from Italy who at the age of eighteen decided to enlist in the Second World War, and then upon surviving, moved to Venezuela to start… Continue reading Francisco Márquez Introduction (New York University ’17)
This time last year I’d been holed up in the second-floor bedroom of a ramshackle house in Queens, where I paid $250 a month to split a small room with my freshman year roommate. We lived across the street from a family of motorcycle enthusiasts, spent nights listening to backyard karaoke and quinceanera celebrations. We… Continue reading David Ye Introduction (Iowa Writer’s Workshop ’17)
I was that kid who was always writing. I entered middle school at the dawn of the digital age--yes, you’ve pinned me down, I’m a child of the ‘90s--and had written my first novel by the time I was twelve. I don’t put quotes around the word novel because it was, indeed, a novel. It had a beginning, a middle, and an ending, 100,000 words, character conflict and resolution (the protagonists were a bully and a geek, heady stuff). I’m not saying it was necessarily the best novel, or that I had completely outgrown my love of potty humor by that time, but, y’know, I was that kid. Sort of a nerd, but kind of a cool nerd? Maybe?
I never used to be nervous on the first night before school started—until I began teaching. Tomorrow, I know that no matter how early to the English department office I arrive, there will still be a line at the copier. And I will still have forty-five syllabi to copy. I know that when I address… Continue reading Kat Saunders Introduction (West Virginia University ’18)
