Literary Spring: Celebrating the Arts at SHU is a month-long festival being put on by the College of Sciences at Sacred Heart University. This festival features a plethora of different workshops and sessions exclusively geared towards literature, playwriting, and poetry.
When this event was announced to the university, an e-mail was sent to the entire student body outlining a schedule for all the events that were going to take place. From things like zine making and open mic nights, there are a wide variety of events that took place throughout the month of April. The month kicked off with student readings at the Edgerton Art Gallery, and faculty came out to support the conception of the literary movement.
As the month has carried on, students have been heavily involved with the various activities, and one of the largest ones was the “Untitled Othello Project.”
The “Untitled Othello Project”is a project being held at Sacred Heart University where there have been table readings and workshops as part of a hands-on movement to change some of the language in the original Othello script. Professional actors and scholars are working to clear implications of racism and misogyny within the text.
With this project being one of the events that laid the foundation for April, there were still a great deal of interesting workshops being held by professors at the university. These professors combined their knowledge from their professional work and also their personal interests to help shape a unique schedule for students to attend.
Professor Amie Reilly of the Languages and Literature Department at SHU, led a flash writing workshop. The workshop was titled “Flash as a Wound” and the word wound was used as a metaphor for the flat genre. Flash is a small narrative that leaves a mark on its reader.
“This project was very important to me because it gives the SHU community a chance to celebrate the arts on our campus. Also, this month-long event is an opportunity for those who are a part of other colleges to try out something new, like storytelling, flash fiction writing, or zine marketing.”
Professor Nathan Lewis, Art & Design Department chair, carried out an art lecture this month as well, where his talk focused on some of his art pieces, specifically related to text. For example, there was a painting of Ophelia, the character in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”
“Collaborating with my colleagues in different departments is a blast,” said Lewis. “The English department has amazing professors, and I believe in the power of poetry and literature. I am supportive of professors organizing events for the students and community, so jumped at the chance to be a part of it.”
Literary Spring isn’t over just yet. There is still time to participate in the final activity of the month. There will be a closing ceremony held for the festival on April 28. This will be taking place in the West Campus Art Crit Room, and it is open to all students starting at 7 p.m.
