Undergraduate Student Reading

By: Susannah Geary
On Monday, December 3rd, Salem State held a reading for undergraduate students to showcase some of their work. This reading offered personal and emotional pieces with some comedic and relatable moments as well. Alexis Sweeny offered a personal poem first, followed by Erin Foote who also offered a personal poem about losing someone from cancer, which a lot of people could relate too. Meeghan Robertson read a poem called, “Listen” about what she means when she tells people to listen to a certain song to express the feelings she wants to express. Then Lauren Bayuk delivered an emotional piece about an abusive household. Connor Perry then gave us a short excerpt from his novel that feature blind characters in another world.
Meg Brown read a piece titled, “In Praise of your Pink Perfume”, the perfume representing someone she loves. She read another piece called “Thermodynamics”, about loving someone from afar. Katherine Teixeira was next and she had a couple of funny poems. “When it comes Knocking” and “The Domino Effect” humorously discussing the anxiety we all have and the overreactions that anxiety causes us to have even sometimes on a daily basis. Samantha Flaherty also read a relatable piece called, “After the Party” a vivid description of what occurs after a drunken party.
Alex Cooke and Isabel Welch read powerful, personal and current pieces. Alex read, “A letter to Dr. Ford”, an apology of sorts, but also the letter tells about other frustrations coming from the current presidential administration, and how sorry isn’t always enough. Isabel followed with her piece inspired by, “The Hate You Give”, she tells about how she protested her high school mascot of a Native American and didn’t stop, even when her school was against her. Then we heard James Leahy pieces, read by myself. One was a short and funny story about a bear and a horse stumbling upon each other. We also heard his poem, about deciding when and where to wear his cross necklace. Finally, we had Marie Crafts reading a piece about being in love with someone who could just not return that love, and how cigarettes now symbolize that person.
This reading was a success as all the writers were applauded for their artestry and honesty.
The next reading for the Spring Semester will be on Monday Feb 4th. Songwriter and poet R.G. Evans and Photographer and poet Mark Hillringhouse will be joining us for two events, which begin at 4:30 in Viking 123 for a photo exhibit, musical performance and a conversation about craft. There will be pizza! Then at 7:30 in MLK, more photos and songs, and a poetry reading from both.