Senior Spotlight | Spring Cleaning: English Majors’ Least Favorite Books
Senior Spotlight: Florence Basile, Eliza Hawthorne, and Hilly Gangolf
It is time to honor our lovely creative writing minors! If you are interested in what they plan to do post-grad, what their comps’ (in other departments???) were, and what their favorite classes were, read on.
What are your current post-graduation aspirations?
F: I will be traveling for a year through the Watson Fellowship to carry out my project titled Designing the Invisible Stage—Greece, New Zealand, Japan, and Scotland are my stops, working with local theaters on all things design!
E: I’m really interested in pursuing work in the field of comparative psychology. I’m not quite ready for grad school yet, but I do believe it will have a place in my future. For now, I’m hoping to gain some more work experience, really figure out what it is I want to do, and continue balancing my other interests, (reading, writing, drawing) as well!
H: Because I’m a computer science major, I am currently looking for job opportunities in computer science after graduation. I have always been interested in both art and sciences which is why a creative writing minor appealed to me.
What was your favorite class you ever took?
F: Elementary Italian with Bill North is definitely up there, but shout out to Project Course: Twelfth Night and any Gwen Kirby creative writing class.
E: I really love Sonja Anderson’s Religion course, Angels, Demons, and Evil! Sonja Anderson is a wonderful teacher, great lecturer, a supportive and effective writer and advisor, and implements engaging lessons. A short description of the class, taken from the course description, is: “This course asks how cosmology—an account of how the universe is put together and the different entities that inhabit it—can be an answer to the problem of evil and injustice.” The class served as a fun way to learn about different aspects of religion, but facilitated incredibly interesting discussions whether or not bad things happen for reasons, and what the implications of that would mean.
H: Advanced Poetry Workshop with Gregory Hewett. I love this class because it allowed me to spend lots of time exploring my style and what I truly wanted to write about. Creating my own poetry portfolio gave me the creative freedom I needed as a writer.
What advice would you give to future creative writing minors?
F: When planning out your time to write a short story for class, include a day or two where you can step away from your work.
E: Do what you love, take every class that looks interesting, take some classes that seem out of your depth or field of comfort, don’t be intimidated by extensive readings, communicate openly with your teachers, and keep taking time to pursue your own personal creative works! The world is going to love hearing what you create.
H: Don’t be afraid to take risks during workshops—that’s what they’re for! Always write what is interesting and genuine to your own experiences. As a more practical piece of advice, choose your classes carefully! Be aware of the classes that’ll fulfill the requirements for the minor, like needing a 300-level lit class.
Favorite book of all time?
F: For now, I’ll say Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens because of the descriptive, naturalistic imagery.
E: I always have to say the Percy Jackson series. While it’s been a while since I read it, I was an avid fan, and it was the series that first made me think that I wanted to write. I fell in love with the idea that someone I had never even met or talked to could make me weep and laugh and love and root for these characters that hadn’t previously existed anywhere except for their mind. The characters and stories became both inspirational and comforting to me, and like many others, the story helped me when I was struggling with aspects of my own life and identity, providing a safe place and an adventure, and characters who felt like role models, friends, and parts of myself.
H: Cannery Row by John Steinbeck.
What’s your most “creative writing minor” trait?
F: You know the phrase “Kill Your Babies”? I have a whole Google Doc full of my favorite deleted corpses of my short stories.
E: Always having a dozen stories or ideas that I’m in the process of writing down. And enjoying EPIC: The Musical.
H: Bee-lining to the poetry section every time I step into a bookstore.
What’s your comps topic/thesis?
F: As a CAMS major, I wrote and directed the short film How the Kiwi Lost Its Wings which is set in New Zealand. I approached it as a doc-fiction film, capturing scripted and unscripted moments that connected my personal experiences—casting my sister, mother, and grandmother as themselves—with the remembrance of a Māori legend.
E: I’m a psychology major and my comps topic is on “The Benefits of Social Connection: Overcoming Stress and Illness through Social Connections & the Possible Application to Trauma.” I’m very happy with the work I did when writing my comps paper, and enjoyed all the research that went into it. People and the connections we make with them are extremely important, and I hope that by bringing attention to the processes, benefits, and effects that underlie social connections, more research can be done to explore the healing potential that they hold.
H: “Show Us Your Secrets: Malware as Art.” During this project I analyzed how malware techniques could be used to create art that is disruptive to a given user.
Spring Cleaning – Majors Edition
As we all know, English majors can have VERY strong opinions about what we read. But, what are some books that English majors HATE with a BURNING PASSION?
Gabe Murillo-Torres (‘27)
I hate Pamela (Samuel Richardson) because the first half of the 500+ pages is about Pamela staying virtuous and resisting her boss’s, Mr. B, perverted advancements and proposals. Then the second half is a torturous reading of their marriage. This novel is important to understanding the “rise of the novel,” but anyone reading this one for pleasure must not like enjoying their time on Earth.
Lizzie Coy-Bjork (‘27)
I absolutely HATE An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. The story follows Colin Singleton (an only child and someone who just got dumped; so a last name that oozes subtly) as he goes on a roadtrip to get his mind off his breakup. I think I’m supposed to find its quirky moments endearing but they all feel forced and unnatural while also being quite trite. The book is a jumble of moments and tries so desperately to be a profound coming-of-age novel, but is incredibly predictable. More like Abundance of Snoozefest.
Defne Arat (‘27)
Pamela (Samuel Richardson) should be burned!!! That sh*t is crazy sexist!