Three English majors plucked poems and short stories from their portfolios to share at last Wednesday’s Student Reading Series. The event was the first of its kind for literary organization ink this semester.
Sophomore English secondary education major Jenna Lanzaro, junior English major Corey Drake and junior English and journalism double major Katie Brenzel recited original pieces before a small audience. Students craned their necks to better hear stories about dysfunctional families, Greek mythology and the end of the world resounding across the Library Auditorium.
Lanzaro opened with stories and poems about the myth of Hades and Persephone.
“Once upon a time, she considered a fruit,” Lanzaro began, referencing the pomegranate seeds Persephone eats that leave her forever tied to the underworld.
Drake read poems about messy mornings and a story about a man coming to grips with the apocalypse.
“What does one say when there’s reasonable certainty the world will end?” Drake read.
Brenzel, Signal Managing Editor, tied up the night with a poem called either “Oatmeal” or “Benedict Arnold” — “I haven’t decided yet,” Brenzel said — and a short story called “Performance” that she hopes to incorporate into a larger set of short stories, “dealing mostly with dysfunction.”
One performance stood out to sophomore biology major Harsha Ayyala, who attended the event.
“They all had different styles. (Lanzaro’s stories) had a lot of powerful emotions,” Ayyala said. “I remember the struggle between Persephone and Hades especially, when she was on the bank between two worlds.”
Emily Brill can be reached at brill3@tcnj.edu.
