The Words: October 2024
Neil Hilborn Features at MacSlams Event
by Birdie Keller ’25
On the night of Saturday, October 26th, a crowd of poetry lovers gathered in the Weyerhaeuser Chapel for a poetry slam hosted by MacSlams and featuring Macalester alumnus Neil Hilborn (’11). It was an evening of laughter, snaps, and Halloween costumes—even including a costume competition! Read more about the event here.
The Words Chats with Xavier Pittman ’24
by Sarah Tachau ’27
Over the past decade, The Twin Cities literary scene has been vibrant with young publishing houses springing up. By far one of the most influential in diversifying the community has been In Black Ink (IBI). Read an interview with Xavier Pittman ’24 about his work with IBI here.
Izzy Wasserstein Graces our Literary Salon with Insights About her Cyberpunk Novella
by Callisto Martinez ’26
Izzy Wasserstein, author of These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart (2024), blasted off into a discussion of her new novella after our space-themed Coffee House on Wednesday, October 9th. Professor Emma Törz introduced Wasserstein and asked her to begin with a reading of the first few pages of the novella that publishers marketed as a “queer, noir technothriller,” which Wasserstein also describes more colloquially as “cyberpunk.” Read more about Izzy’s insights here!
Professor Ali’s Book Celebration
by Ahlaam Abdulwali ’25
On October 22nd, I had the honor of attending Professor Sarah Ghazal Ali’s book celebration. The book event took place in the cozy living room of the Briggs House. The peak autumn colors and dreary weather made it the perfect day for a poetry reading. Professor Matt Burgess introduced Professor Ali and spoke of the many feats she achieved with her new poetry collection Theophanies. Professor Burgess described this collection as “modern, but somehow also ancient” and a form of “matrilineal archive.” Read about the celebration here.
MacFest Playwright Spotlight: Moriah Weiss ’27
by Jizelle Villegas ’26
During this year’s MacFest, the Theater and Dance Department held an event in the James A. Williams black box theater, on September 27th and 28th, where they held staged readings of six different student written plays. Read on to hear insights from one of the playwrights!
Student org coffee house
by Peyton Williamson ’27
For the October 23rd weekly Coffee House, the English Department held an “English-y” org fair as an opportunity for students to discover all of the English-related writing/literary student organizations on campus and learn about ways to get involved in each. Read about the coffee house here.
Craft Corner with Carling McQuinn
by Ahlaam Abdulwali ’25
For this month’s Craft Corner, we interviewed Carling McQuinn ‘25. Carling is an Economics and Creative Writing major here at Macalester. You might recognize her name for winning the Nick Adams short story contest in 2023 for “Phantom,” a short story she wrote as a first-year in Introduction to Creative Writing Read about Carling’s writing thoughts here!
Student/Faculty Accolades
by Ahlaam Abdulwali ’25
Read the monthly roundup of student/faculty accolades here.