English Department Reading Review

The snow danced outside the window in the deep blue sky and the smell of wet wood filled the Olmstead Room. The chandelier light illuminated a room filled with Kalamazoo residents, students, and family members. The Kalamazoo College English Department Faculty Reading brought people of all different walks of life together to enjoy multiple, diverse and impressive pieces of literature.

All members of the Kalamazoo College English Department, aside from Amy Smith who is on sabbatical, contributed to the event, which began at 7:00pm on Wednesday, January 27, 2010. The evening consisted of various works of short fiction, poetry, nonfiction, process pieces, and short passages from novels orally portrayed by ten professors.

Andy Mozina, English Department Chairman, was the first reader of the evening. He opened with a humorous segment from his short story “My Non-Sexual Affair”. With phenomenal eye contact and great comic timing, Mozina was captivating and utterly enjoyable. Following Mozina was Beth Marzoni who read the poem “Rothko’s Room”. With a lengthy and somewhat dull poem, Marzoni had troubles matching Mozina’s overall allure. But Marzoni’s poem ended powerfully with “Look…look…look”. This conclusion had such a great effect that it was hard to remember the boredom in the middle.

Marin Heinritz brought a new aspect of literature to the evening with a nonfiction piece. The sentimental and personal subject matter was eye opening and affected. Gail Griffins’ piece matched Heinritz’s emotional intensity by reading about the murder and suicide ten years ago in the DeWaters Residence Hall on Kalamazoo College’s campus. Not only was Griffins’ piece written beautifully, but she also read with strong conviction and raw emotion of a person who lived through the pain that such events would cause.

Glenn Deutsch read two passages from the short story “The Monkey Version of My Father”. Deutsch’s deep voice and explanatory asides made the pieces easy to comprehend and listen to.

With piercing eyes and vivid facial expressions, Amy Rodgers, a visiting English instructor, carried the audience into her past and the process in which she writes dramas. Her detailed stream of consciousness like style of writing was very engaging and, when combined with a stellar physicality, completely enthralling. Rodgers drama was juxtaposed by Di Seuss’ humor. With two poems, “It Wasn’t a Dream I Knew William Burroughs” and “Birthday Confession”, Seuss kept the audience laughing at witty and crude humor.

Changing directions, Amelia Katanski read a piece of creative nonfiction, “Noble Truths”. This piece was written in four parts that lined up with Buddhist beliefs, making it a much different style than any other piece that evening.

Bruce Mills rounded out the evening with another personal piece. “An Archeology of Learning” is a book about Mills’ sons’ autism. Through his reading, Mills emotions were very clearly portrayed. Although Mills showed some signs of a nervous public speaker, it did not take away from the power of his reading, in fact it added to the personal nature of his selection.

Babli Sinha’s piece, though interesting at times, was not read in a stimulating manner. For a reading Sinha’s piece was incredibly dense but her intelligence and spark shone through when discussing gender.

It is always great to get to see a piece of a prestigious college professor’s life outside of the classroom. This reading allowed for insight into the inner workings of a group of brilliant people. It is definitely worth the frigid trek to the cozy Olmstead Room, and is the event to attend in January.

Audience: Kalamazoo College Index