The Lyceum Gallery presents... From Chester

From March 5 to April 13 The Lyceum Gallery at The Derryfield School will Manchester presents a group show titled From Chester. From Chester features the work of selected seniors and recent alumni from the Fine Arts and Photography departments at Chester College of New England.

The show is an example of some of the exciting and inventive work that is being produced by the artists studying visual arts at Chester. The show includes a range of two dimensional media, styles, and artistic methodologies that develop as the artists build toward their thesis work.

From Chester features: figurative charcoal drawings by Kerri Aines, pop narrative paintings by Mike Durkee, mixed media work by Daniel Fadley, platinum palladium prints by Madison Mastri, mixed media assemblage from Bryan Johnson, photography by Ashley Moore, & images of mixed media installations by Jodi Ramos. The exhibition was curated by Christina Pitsch, Chair of the Department of Fine Arts.

Please join us for the Artists Reception on March 7th from 5:30-7:00 pm.

A Chat With the Chester Vagina Monologues Cast

After Chester College’s first performance of the ever popular Vagina Monologues on Feb. 15, SO Good's Kelsey McCarthy was lucky to catch up with a few of the performers--students Dawn Coutu, Rachel Lieberman, Tiffany Etter, and Shannon Malloy, and faculty members Nanette Thrush and Monica O'Brien--to get their take on the show and what it speaks to so many about.

SO Good: Put yourself two years in the past. Could you still see yourself being a part of this performance?

Dawn Coutu: I think I was still rather shy and uncomfortable with myself two years ago. I avoided saying the word "vagina." Since Friday's performance, I feel comfortable saying it more than I ever have.

Rachel Lieberman: I think two years ago I could have seen myself doing this performance, but certainly a little more hesitant given the fact that I was in high school. For some reason the two environments are very, very different from each other.

Tiffany Etter: Absolutely not. It's not the content that would have prevented me, but stage fright. I have no problem voicing my opinion in discussions, but put the focus on me directly while standing and reading in front of a crowd and I have mild panic attacks.

Nanette Thrush: Yes, I would have been a part of this performance two years ago.

Monica O’Brien: I definitely would've done this two years ago. I would've been open to doing it at any time in my life if I felt camaraderie with the people doing it.

Shannon Malloy: Oh definitely. I've always been pretty comfortable with myself, and in high school I read one of the Vagina Monologues for my drama class. I don't think I would have done the monologue I did, but two years ago I would have done it.

SO Good: How important do you think positive sexual education is in society today? (Meaning seeing sex in a positive, natural light.)

Coutu: I think it is important to teach healthy acceptance of sex as a natural desire. I think this should be taught as well as accepting our bodies for each variously voluptuous shape.

Lieberman: To me, it's important to make sure students know the risks that can be associated with sex, but I don't believe in painting sex itself in a bad light. Safe sex should be the focus of sex education.

Etter: I think it's very important. Our priorities as a society seem to be off kilter. We have no problem letting children play with guns or watch violent movies, but let something sexual like a breast flash and we freak out. Girls, especially, should be taught that they're bodies are beautiful and sacred, and they can choose what they wish to do with their body.

Thrush: I think sex education overall is crucial--as it is, teens are taught to be ashamed of sex and sexuality, which only leads to problems.

O’Brien: I think positive sexual education is one of the most important things we can offer young people, but I think it needs to be in conjunction with teaching critical thinking and cultural studies. It's great for a woman to be taught to love her clitoris, but that only goes so far if she subscribes to patriarchal definitions of womanhood.

Malloy: For hundreds of years, humans have made sex out to be this horrible thing, even though it is completely necessary. By doing things like the Vagina Monologues, we show the new generations coming out that these are the things our bodies do, and how they are, and make sure in the process to show that there is nothing wrong with sex. This is especially important at a female perspective because women have only been shown to be sexual in the last hundred years or so. Without things like the Vagina Monologues, or the Penis Monologues (obviously a male perspective), religion and ancient morals will always say sex is bad.

SO Good: What was the hardest part of your performance? Why?

Coutu: Accentuating the proper words for "The Flood" was difficult because it made the difference between the audience catching on to my monologue's humor and listening to an old lady gab in monotone about her first boyfriend.

Lieberman: At first, it was difficult to get into the idea of using certain language and conveying certain ideas with my monologue. I'd never done anything like this before, so it was odd, but after awhile I really got into it.

Etter: Just getting over the nerves before the actual performance. Once I realized that everyone is here for a great cause and it's not the end of the world if I flub a line.

Thrush: The most difficult part of my performance was trying to decide what "emotion" to give the piece. The words alone could have been angry, funny, or melodramatic.

O’Brien: The hardest part of the performance was acting. I don't act. I'm just not good at it and it makes me uncomfortable. So it's good that I had a part that could be delivered more like a lecture!

Malloy: Moaning. It was hard to get up there and do something so personal, being a moaner myself. It took a lot of opening up to do most of them. Having Jenna, Cassandra and Vanessa up there with me made me feel so much better, and realize that it isn't about just me, it is about everyone.

SO Good: Some of you are currently professors at the college. Did this fact make it easier or harder to perform in front of students? Why or why not?

Thrush: Performing the piece in front of the students wasn't difficult for me, but I wonder if it was for them.

O’Brien: The fact that I'm a professor here made me want to participate. However, I'm glad I didn't have a part that required me to act in a sexy manner or moan--these days I don't think I would do those things for anyone except my husband!

Mary Gaitskill Visits Chester College

Renowned author Mary Gaitskill was at Chester College on Thursday, February 28, 2008, to participate in Chris Anderson’s Advanced Fiction workshop. Aside from the normal gaggle of students, the workshop was opened to the public and was attended by a dozen spectators.

Gaitskill opened the workshop with a speech on various aspects of writing. She began by asking the students what they like about literature and responding to their answers, from “dialogue” to “conflict.” She discussed in great detail the parallels of style and content, and how fiction must always have “reasons” for being the way it is. To illustrate her point she read selections from Flannery O’Conner’s Good Country People, Charles Dickens’ Bleak House, and Vladimir Nabokov’s Pale Fire.

After a short break, the workshop began. This workshop dealt with a piece of short fiction by student Marie Stern entitled “Confidence Men,” a story about two grifters, their thoughts and feelings on death, and how those thoughts and feelings affected their relationship with each other. A number of pertinent comments were made by Gaitskill, the students, and instructor, Chris Anderson.

After the workshop, Mary Gaitskill answered questions from the gathered gaggle. These questions ranged in subject from researching source material to the writing process to what it was like to experience a film adaptation of one of her works. The event was extremely successful.

Don’t forget, Gaitskill, along with student Kristen Koczarski, will be reading tonight in Powers 29 (the fireplace room) at 6:00pm. Gaitskill will be reading from an upcoming collection due to be released next year.

To all those who submitted:

Thank you! The SO Good staff is happy to report we have received a great batch of submissions and we really appreciate everyone who made the effort to put their work out there. The staff is now beginning the selection process and is looking forward to putting together an awesome collection thanks to everyone who contributed.

-Kristen Koczarski

Chester College explores the world of graphic novels

First part of a two part series

Christopher Anderson, a professor of writing at Chester College, is working side by side with Joel Christian Gill, a visual artist and professor at Chester, to bring the world of graphic novels into the classroom.

Graphic novels are finding themselves a niche in the art world these days. They are expanding beyond concepts of superheroes and fantastic situations and moving into the real world. Fiction is blurring together with visual art in such a way that the lines in between are non-existent.

Anderson thinks that graphic novels tell stories in a different language, but one that is still essentially a story, a fiction. Although he finds this hard to explain in some tangible way, he refers to the graphic novel Fun Home by Alison Bechdel and the scene of two siblings smiling at their fathers funeral. Although this may seem morbid, it is an intense scene of connection, which only illustration seems to convey.

Writers and visual artists are working together in this class. The class runs nine hours, three hours being devoted to creative writing aspect and six hours to the visual art side of the class. Each writer is paired with a visual artist with which they are to work with on a graphic project together. Although these artists may be pursuing their separate degrees in Creative Writing and Visual Art, Anderson says that they are not considered separate within the class; rather, they are encouraged to bolster and enhance each others work in a combination of visual and written art.

This class at Chester College signifies the interest in contemporary art forms and styles for both the visual and written artist. It concentrates on breaking the mold between studies and stressing interdisciplinary art and creativity. We should expect to see more classes like this in the future of Chester College, as well as a continuation of the graphic novel course.

Students React To Upcoming Visiting Author

As all at CCNE anxiously await the arrival of author Mary Gaitskill, no two are more eager than Seniors Kristen Koczarski and Marie Stern. Both look forward to work shopping their own writing with Gaitskill, and Koczarski will enjoy the pleasure of reading with the author she has admired for three years. Before their big day, SO Good interviews Kristen and Marie.

1. What was it in Gaitskill’s work that drew you to it?

K: I first read Bad Behavior as a freshman in my fiction class and was immediately drawn in by her casual treatment of such powerful subject matter. Her ability to capture the intensely personal aspects of her characters got me completely hooked.
M: I love the way her descriptions are filled with lush imagery without knocking you over the head with what she’s trying to say. Her subtlety of characterization, too. There’s something really beautiful about the complexity of her characters and the many levels they affect and are affected.


2. Have you found trends in your writing that are influences of Gaitskill? (Examples?)

K: I do know that she has been a huge influence on my work, especially in my courage to write about subjects I may have been too nervous to in the past, such as prostitution, porn, and my own involvement in the BDSM scene. Her characterization in Two Girls, Fat and Thin really drove me to want to dig in deep into my own characters' past and psychology.
M: I love the way she uses sexual undertones and sexuality to define and understand her characters, as well as the way it is used in her stories to get at deeper, very different issues. I strive to do that in a way. Also, her use of metaphor (especially in Veronica) is something I’ve used as an example for myself.

3. What are some trends in your work that differ from Gaitskill’s?

K: It's much better than mine? I think my work tends to involve more dark humor, I suppose.
M: Everything else? I’m not sure how to answer this one. Her work is amazing and I’m still just a student – so obviously her work is tremendously better. I guess I’m not really able to achieve the level of subtle removed-ness from my characters that she achieves in some of her short stories, and that’s one thing that stands out to me.

4. What was your immediate reaction when you learned you were to be reading/work shopping with one of your favorite authors?

K: be completely honest, my initial reaction was, I can't do this, I'd pee myself. It's a huge honor, one that I have a hard time believing I warrant. After having a month or so to think on it, I'm still nervous. Gaitskill has been my favorite fiction writer and a sort of idol for me since I first encountered her work three years ago and the idea of just meeting her is nerve racking- let alone opening for her reading. I'm excited to be sure; I just hope I don't have a heart attack.
M: When I heard I was going to be work-shopped by her, I believe my immediate reaction was “Oh shit, really? Are you kidding?” I’m totally excited - it’s such a great opportunity and I’m psyched and nervous as hell. Nervous is key. Very nervous.

5. Who are you other influences, or who are you reading currently?

K: My other biggest influence is definitely Edward Abbey, and I'm partial to Raymond Carver, Nabokov, Thomas Pynchon, and Michelle Tea.
M: The answer to this one changes all the time, but right now I’m reading a lot of William Faulkner, Don Delillo, and Thomas Pynchon. I also really love Maxine Hong Kingston, Sherman Alexi, and Raymond Carver. But my influences hardly stop at fiction (or memoir as the case my be) – I also read a lot of philosophy (my favorites are Michel Foucault and Jaques Derrida) and academic work, which I enjoy immensely, and inevitably gets filtered into my writing as well. Oh, and I’m madly in love LOVE with Mark Z. Danielewski. He gets put at the top of the list.

6. What work will you be reading/work shopping?

K: I'll be reading a small excerpt from a larger piece of nonfiction about my plans to climb a mountain and short story called Red Eye, both of which I wrote last semester.

M: I actually wrote a new piece – a short story called Confidence Men about a pair of Gypsies who pull con jobs.

7. How/why did you choose that particular work?

K: The nonfiction piece shows where I'm going in my work at the moment, and Red Eye is my most recent piece of fiction that is closest to being done.

M: I chose to write a new piece because, well, it’s still for a workshop class, and I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to have such a great writer look at some of my work and give me advice while it’s still in its earlier stages. It’s not exactly a first draft (I’m certainly happy with it), but it’s hasn’t been through several revisions yet either, and I didn’t want to hand in something I felt didn’t need a lot of work. It’s a good story, but the workshop is about finding and honing potential, so I wanted to take advantage of that.

8. What are some of your habits good/bad within your writing process?

K: I have to write things out by hand first. I don't know if that's good or bad- both I think. I can't get my thoughts together on a computer so I go back to pen and paper, and then when I do type it out, it goes through a quick revision in the typing process. So that's a plus, but writing it out is really time consuming and hard on my hands. Also my handwriting is practically illegible, even to me, which frequently becomes a problem.
M: Bourbon is probably the worst habit. Haha! But it’s the most fun! Honestly, the best thing for me to do is constantly read and re-read what I’ve written so far, and read it aloud. I always have to stop and read aloud, so I can get a sense of what sounds natural. Also, I always work to music – I like to imagine what the soundtrack to this story would sound like, and I pick music that suits the mood. I find it ridiculously inspiring.

9. How have you seen yourself grow as a writer through your years at CCNE?

K: I don't want to even think about what I first wrote in Intro to Fiction Writing. I sure hope I've come a long way since then. I've learned a great deal about subtlety, subtext, and probably most importantly, I've been exposed to many incredible authors from which I can draw inspiration.

M: I’ve improved so, so much over the years. It’s ridiculous looking back at some of the first things I wrote while I was here, and how bad they seem. Most importantly, I think I’ve grown to realize the importance of revision. And craft, too: how to really choose your words so they do the work, how to create complex, subtle characters, and how to experiment in form. Also, I’ve been exposed to so many great authors and books – and as a writer, I know that the more I read, the better my work is going to be.

10. What message have you learned from this opportunity (the reading) that you would like to share with other readers/writers?

K: I feel like I'll better be able to answer that one next week. I guess I can say, great opportunities always bring anxiety, but they're worth it.

M: Can I get back to you on that after the workshop?

A Writer: Grabbing this World by the Books

by Michelle Daugherty

In the giant chain bookstore world we live in, it is harder than ever to become a bestselling writer without forfeiting some dignity. Novelists follow the formula that worked for their last book to reduce the risk of losing the interest of anyone who may be reading their progression. Even poetry becomes a game of churning out the next book before the poet loses the connections they worked hard to make the first time. The truth at the heart of the issue: writing is hard work. Publishing is hard work. Taking the time to fully develop a new idea or body of writing means reestablishing your audience, as well as professional contacts to help you sell that book.

There are some skills any writer pursuing a career needs to develop. The first and most vital to success, is confidence. Many bestseller writers during interviews have said that to keep grounded and motivated, they have a small circle of friends that read their work as it is developing. The benefits of workshop are compelling enough that there are now tons of groups across our country where a writer goes to hear what a small sample group thinks of their writing so far. This allows for edits to clarify, as well as a dialogue on where a reader may want the writing to go. Workshops are so popular that there are now online groups that send feedback to your e-mail. Another hidden perk to workshops can be found in the other participants. These are other writers; some of them can serve as mentors. In most workshops, the participants are DOing things with their writing. You can meet editors of magazines, a bookstore events coordinator. If anything, you can meet someone who knows someone who may take an interest in your writing.

Publication itself can be a hurdle to jump. The big advice from most experts: have thick skin. The secret to publishing success is to submit, constantly. There is a huge amount of help available for that. Online submission searches are handy even straight from google. There is even a series of books to handhold through the process. The Writer’s Market books are around to prove a couple of things; one being that there are a ton of people trying to get their work published, enough to make money off of the hopeful writers. The other is how many options there are. Submitting to as many options as possible will secure your chances. The more small publishing credits you have, the more secure of an investment you will be for a company to publish your very own book.

Yes, some people get a book done without their bio filled with small steps. There are blind competitions where a judge selects work solely on its merit instead of the opinions of journals and other editors. Those contests are expensive. They are also entirely subjective and highly competitive. The top ones are constantly getting an overabundance of entries. Think of it as applying to Harvard, even with a 4.0 and excellent test scores there is no guarantee.

Another angle, for poets especially, are readings. Poetry Readings are found everywhere. Bookstores, schools, even bars can rely on groups of poets to show up on their slow night and spend money while reading their work to some of the same people most weeks. It can be a tough sport. There are clichés like there were in high school. There are several ex dating partners, some catty women and the inevitable really bad writer who takes themselves seriously (who most take as the bathroom break).

But the opportunities are there as well. It is here that writers hear of each other, develop their style and learn how a crowd of people respond to their writing. It is here also, that one builds a support group of other struggling writers and in general friendships. There is also that soft hope in the background, especially in a city, of a literary agent walking in while you are reading and liking what they hear enough to open a door for you. That hope turns writers into waitresses waiting tables until they are discovered. It is rare, but they are legends because it is possible.

The solid fact about becoming a successful writer is the hard work it entails. A tiny bit of the equation is raw talent, the rest is persistence.