The Words: November 2023
A Fearful Double Feature: Literary Salon Death Panel and Haunted Coffee House
by Zoë R. Scheuerman ’24
Alongside the English department’s traditional Haunted Coffee House, the new and evolving Literary Salon format offered a fresh opportunity to give students and faculty alike the jeepers-creepers. Click here to read more about this coffee house as well as the literary salon panel hosted by Professors Daylanne English, Coral Lumbley, and Amy Elkins…
Publishing Poetry in the Twin Cities: My Internship with Button Poetry
by Charley Eatchel ‘23
As a suburban Minnesota kid who was on the competitive speech team, I’ve known about Button Poetry for a while. Their spoken word performance videos were something like gospel for English nerds and dramatic performers. I became a fan of theirs in early high school—going so far as to even have quite a few of their spoken word pieces memorized. So, when I was offered the opportunity to apply for their publishing internship, I couldn’t pass it up! Read all about Charley’s internship here!
A First-Year’s First Impressions
by Lucy Flack ’27
You might recognize Lucy as one of the new English student workers whom The Words introduced in September. Now that she’s gotten halfway through her first semester at Mac, the Words staff reached out to her to share her impression of Mac, and working in the English department, so far. Read her glowing review here!
Recap: Twin Cities Book Festival
by Chloë Moore ’24
On Saturday October 14th, The Words sent myself and two other intrepid investigators (read: big nerds) on a nail-biting mission to uncover the secrets of the Rain Taxi-sponsored Twin Cities Book Festival. For a few harrowing hours, Charley Eatchel ’23, Birdie Keller ’24, and I crept through aisle after aisle of booths, hosted by everyone from self-published authors to major Twin Cities presses like Milkweed Editions, Coffee House, and Graywolf. Local arts and writing organizations were represented, as were newspapers, universities, and a range of literary magazines. Learn about the group’s trip here!
From the Mac Weekly: Macalester Professor Makes it Big in the Book World
by Daniel Graham ‘26
Macalester College English Professor, Emma Törzs, got a cat, saw Joanna Newsom live in concert, read a few fantasy novels, and did a chapter exchange with a friend in October 2019. These events spurred her to begin writing her first published novel. Read about Professor Törzs first novel in this piece originally published in the Mac Weekly…
Classes in the Cities
by Ahlaam Abdulwali ’25
Macalester’s location in the heart of the Twin Cities area is one of the many draws of attending the college. As a student, it may be difficult to explore the Twin Cities during the semester because of our course loads. The English department, however, encourages engagement with the vivacious art scene of Minneapolis/St. Paul by sponsoring field trips for English courses. Click here to learn more about class-sponsored trips in the cities!
Breaking Down the New York State Summer Writers Institute with Miriam Ruiz
by Miriam Ruiz ’24
As part of the Words’ endeavor to showcase student and faculty achievements and experiences (Send them in here if you have any!), the staff reached out to Miriam Ruiz ‘24 about her experience applying for, and ultimately receiving, a spot at the New York State Summer Writers Institute. Read about Miriam’s experience here!
English Alumni Reunited at Mocktail Coffee House!
by Patrick Coy-Bjork ’24
This month, we had the joy of welcoming back five of our beloved English graduates to a special Alumni Coffee House event! The guests featured were (from left to right) Jackson Ullman ‘20, Nora Stewart ‘21, Asher de Forest ‘21, Miram Moore-Keish ‘19, and Kira Schukar ‘22. These five have had a wide range of different career paths since their graduations, and were able to share their experiences with current English students. Read about what our wonderful alums have been up to here…
Wordplay With Kendall Kieras ’24
by Birdie Keller ’25
We are so excited to introduce another edition of Wordplay, where we feature incredible creative writing from our very own senior English majors! This month, Kendall Kieras was generous enough to share a poem. Kendall is a senior English Literature and Political Science double major from Seattle. They are the president of Mac’s spoken word club, MacSlams, and were a member of Mac’s 2023 Midwest Poetry Mashup winning slam team. Read Kendall’s work here…
