Panel Chair, Nancy Reisman (Professor of English)

Jessica Cobbinah: Keep This To Yourself

Presenter Bio: Jessica Cobbinah is a member of the class of 2023.

Abstract: For their first major project, two journalism students spend as much time as possible with their assigned partner to write a thousand-word profile on each other. What starts as a simple enough task becomes fraught with secrets and emotions.

Rebecca Hall: The City Never Sleeps, Neither Do I

Presenter Bio: Becca Hall is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. An English major hailing from Saint James, New York, she draws upon her experiences briefly living in NYC throughout much of her writing. Becca hopes to continue her work with narrative-driven nonfiction in some form after graduation, ideally in service of shifting the conversation on mental illness.

Abstract: Written in the style of a New York Times “Modern Love” column essay, this piece is an exploration of my experiences with bipolar disorder during a sleepless summer in Manhattan. Framed by a tumultuous romantic entanglement, it examines the impact of transparency (and lack thereof) about the condition on relationships.

Kelly Morgan: Appalachian Spring: Creative Writing Honors Thesis

Presenter Bio: Kelly Morgan serves as editor-in-chief of The Vanderbilt Review and president of The McGill Project. She has presented her work at the National Undergraduate Literature Conference, and her writing has appeared in Blue Route Literary Journal, Mosaic Art & Literary Journal, Young Ravens Literary Review, and elsewhere. She has poems forthcoming in Rainy Day Literary Magazineand The Oakland Review.

Abstract: These poems are a sample pulled from my creative writing honors thesis, a poetry collection that tells a survival narrative based in Appalachian identity. The poems in the thesis focus on fraught bodily experiences, and they argue that we can use language as a tool to reconnect with our own bodies, and ultimately, to choose to continue living. I draw particularly on ideas from linguistic theory and new materialist philosophies to make this argument.

Panel Chair, Caroline Stevens (MFA candidate)

Rebecca Hall: The City Never Sleeps, Neither Do I

Presenter Bio: Becca Hall is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. An English major hailing from Saint James, New York, she draws upon her experiences briefly living in NYC throughout much of her writing. Becca hopes to continue her work with narrative-driven nonfiction in some form after graduation, ideally in service of shifting the conversation on mental illness.

Abstract: Written in the style of a New York Times “Modern Love” column essay, this piece is an exploration of my experiences with bipolar disorder during a sleepless summer in Manhattan. Framed by a tumultuous romantic entanglement, it examines the impact of transparency (and lack thereof) about the condition on relationships.

Louisa Bienstock: A Squash Tournament, A Man, And The Tricky Trade-off That Followed

Presenter Bio: Louisa Bienstock is a member of the class of 2023.

Abstract: This piece centers upon my experience navigating a complex relationship with a coach in high school. Throughout the narrative, I recount my struggles to come to terms with how his presence has influenced my life and the person I have become.

Alden Tetreault: All the Things I Never Told You

Presenter Bio: Alden is a member of the class of 2023.

Abstract: This is a piece of creative nonfiction about my relationship with my mother as if told directly to her. It covers themes such as loss and grief when exploring the effects of my father’s early passing, specifically how it has affected my ability, or inability, to communicate my love and feelings.

Panel Chair, Hayes Cooper (MFA candidate)

Zhi-Ying Chua: “Empire a Call Away”

Presenter Bio: Zhi-Ying Chua is a member of the class of 2023.

Abstract: The poem “Empire is a Call Away” seeks to engage, in a limited way, with the repercussions of U.S. imperialism and globalization—the latter a process that, as Maulana Karenga reminds us, “has its roots in the classical period of imperialist expansion”—while reflecting on how language affects expressions of love; centering close familial relationships; and paying attention to how both of these may shift, subtly, as a result of distance and time. The title is ironic: the effects of imperialism, and the closely related, often intertwined legacies of colonialism, are virtually inescapable. They are audible in the power that English holds on a global scale; deeply felt by workers around the world, especially workers of color, who have been made even more vulnerable to exploitation during the process of globalization; and tangible in disparities in access to food, made convenient for some through the heightened exploitation of workers in and the material resources of the Global South.

Kelly Morgan: Appalachian Spring: Creative Writing Honors Thesis

Presenter Bio: Kelly Morgan serves as editor-in-chief of The Vanderbilt Review and president of The McGill Project. She has presented her work at the National Undergraduate Literature Conference, and her writing has appeared in Blue Route Literary Journal, Mosaic Art & Literary Journal, Young Ravens Literary Review, and elsewhere. She has poems forthcoming in Rainy Day Literary Magazineand The Oakland Review.

Abstract: These poems are a sample pulled from my creative writing honors thesis, a poetry collection that tells a survival narrative based in Appalachian identity. The poems in the thesis focus on fraught bodily experiences, and they argue that we can use language as a tool to reconnect with our own bodies, and ultimately, to choose to continue living. I draw particularly on ideas from linguistic theory and new materialist philosophies to make this argument.

Kaitlyn Hammond: A Mind on Trial

Presenter Bio: Kaitlyn Hammond is a fiction writer and poet from New Jersey. She is the author of two poetry collections,The Sociopath Stumbles Home and Just Be Human Today, under the name K.B. Hammond. Kaitlyn is a junior pre-law student studying Psychology and Creative Writing. When she isn’t writing, you can find Kaitlyn in a park drinking kombucha and reading a mystery novel.

Abstract: This piece begins with a line from Weldon Kees’s “After the Trial.” Inspired by Kees’s description of a man’s reaction to a trial, I took the imagery of a trial and turned it inwards as a means of self reflection on guilt. This poem explores negative thought patterns and mental health through the judge who resides in all humans.

Jonathan Quiros: Ode to Our Iridescence

Presenter Bio: Jonathan Quiros (colloquially known as JQ) is a Panamanian-American poet/fiction writer and musician who was born in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2000 and who has since lived in Rochester, New York; Houston, Texas; and Omaha, Nebraska, where the rest of their family resides in the present-day. They are currently a Trumpet Performance Major and Creative Writing Minor, juggling music-making with the writing of their first fiction novel. As their senior year comes to a close, they are simply overjoyed that they have a chance to share their creative voice and hope that they will be offered more opportunities to do so in the future.

Abstract: “Ode to Our Iridescence” focuses on the myriad of colors that make up our opalescent world –  not just the colors of the things around us (i.e. the trees and the birds) but the colors that live within us as well. Each of us is a beautiful combination of the things we encounter and the colors that the world emits on us both in physical and symbolic ways. This poem grapples with the idea of our impermanence and the impermanence of our world, but the beauty of it all as well – its hues, tints, and brilliant shades.  Surely, there’s more to each of us than meets the eye.

Panel Chair, Lara Casey (MFA candidate)

Eliana Sussner: Good Guys

Presenter Bio: Eliana Sussner is a member of the Class of 2024 and is studying English and Political Science. She is originally from New Jersey and has been writing since she was eight years old. She finished the first draft of her first novel at age fourteen and published her first short story at age seventeen in Red Bean Magazine in 2020. She has also been featured in Ogma Magazine from 2020 to 2021. She has written four novels as well as many short stories and plans on working towards publishing her most recent novel in the latter half of 2022. She is currently writing for The Nash News as a Contributing Writer.

Abstract: After a fraternity party, two fraternity brothers, Aiden and Thomas, attempt to transport an unconscious girl to the hospital. As the truth of the night is revealed and the unthinkable happens, the brothers come to terms with the gravity of their actions. This piece concerns itself with sexual assault, trauma, and dehumanization of victims in the context of what at times is a largely indifferent college atmosphere.

Shelley Xue: The Fantastic Life of Cindy

Presenter Bio: Shelley Xue is a member of the Class of 2022 majoring in Economics with double minors in Cinema & Media Arts and Psychology. She has been telling stories since kindergarten, when she walked up to people and told stories about herself as a magical fairy. Much of Shelley’s recent creative writing reflects her own personal experiences. Outside of writing, Shelley enjoys long runs, people watching, and trying her best to sing in-tune.

Abstract: In this short screenplay, our protagonist Cindy learns that living in her fantasy can be an unreliable and even destructive method of escapism from reality. To escape her pandemic-induced grief, she finds refuge in a fantastic vision that is a combination of past journal writings, past music, past pictures, and lots of imagination. Eventually, her subconscious seeps in, reality intrudes in her fantasy, and the distinction between fantasy and reality becomes blurred, forcing her to confront her grief.

Bela Seitz: Six Lies

Presenter Bio: Bela Seitz is a member of the Class of 2023 from New York City. She is majoring in Human and Organizational Development and History of Art. In her spare time, she enjoys going to museums and writing.

Abstract: Composed in a fiction writing workshop, Six Lies is a story that seeks to address themes of family, trauma, and cats.

Eric Ponce: McNifica

Presenter Bio: Eric Alan Ponce was born and raised in Dallas, Texas to a Mexican-immigrant father and a first-generation Ecuadorian mother. He is a senior at Vanderbilt University studying Philosophy and English with a focus in creative writing. His main interests are critical theory, feminist philosophy, semiotics, and contemporary Latino literature. His writing has been published in the The Vanderbilt Review, BookPage magazine, The Vanderbilt Political Review, and PALABRITAS the Harvard Latino Literary Journal. He hopes to make a living writing and teaching wherever he goes.

Abstract: McNífica is the story of a young man who meets a cousin he can’t communicate with very well. Because they are the same age, they try to relate to each other through other things, eventually realizing they both like eating fast food. When his cousin tells a tragic story about his two friends, the narrator realizes that some ties transcend language, class, and culture.

Panel Chair, Jessica Lee (MFA candidate)

Morgan Elrod-Erickson: Message for X Æ A-XII

Presenter Bio: Morgan Elrod-Erickson is a senior English major. When he’s not writing or reading “the kinds of books they always force you to read in English class” for fun, you might find him ballroom dancing or at a heavy metal concert. He is currently clawing his way to completion of a senior thesis, which he plans to expand into a full-length (and probably rather lengthy) novel in the near future.

Abstract: This piece is an imagined letter to Elon Musk and Grimes’ child, whom they have named X Æ A-XII (or X for short). It incorporates language Musk and Grimes have used to describe X—such language is set aside in brackets to differentiate it from my own words. The poem is an appeal to X’s humanity; in workshop, I said (only half in jest) that I feared this child may someday become an “evil cyborg space billionaire,” an outcome which I think we’d all like to avoid.

JaHyne “JJ” Johnson: Paper Thin

Presenter Bio: Hello! My name is JaHyne “J.J.” Johnson. I am a junior (c/o 2023) from Memphis, TN, majoring in Chemistry. On campus, I am a member of Questbridge, poetry writer for New Dawn, member of VU Pointe ballet club, and president of Money Readers. I am a pretty laid-back guy who loves to cook, try new food, go to arcades, play basketball, and laugh. When I write poetry, I love to use a natural entity ( flowers, fire, seasons, etc.) as a vehicle to express my emotions. In my poetry, I make sure to include clear and vivid imagery to guide the readers to my message.

Abstract: This poem highlights how it is being an intelligent black in America. On one hand, especially in the eyes of the black elders, you are “the chosen” who is given the burden to sacrifice your life and dreams to fix the problems in the black community; on the other hand, even though you are intelligent and may even surpass some of your white counterparts, you are still treated beneath them because you are a black man in a society built for white men. All this is told through paper imagery.

Alexandra Rahill: Dad’s Drum Set Pantoum

Presenter Bio: Alexandra Rahill is a member of the class of 2023.

Abstract: This piece is a pantoum poem about grief. The speaker is a child that has recently lost their mother and is watching their father work through his grief by playing his drumset. The speaker observes the pain of being a recent and unexpected single father of two young children. The speaker imagines how the family must look to their neighbors and through their observations of a particular piece of the drum set that represents their childhood, the child’s grief is also explored. I thought the drum set worked well in the pantoum form because of the strong beat inherent in the form.