Literary Event: Undergraduate Awards

My second reading of the quarter was also a reading from my fellow students. The Undergraduate Awards were packed with  Something I found not incredibly surprising but seemed to really stand out to me was just how different undergraduate readings are from many professional readings. I forget that for many of my classmates, although they are incredibly talented writers, reading their own pieces, and becoming comfortable to do so in their own intended voices, is not something they have much experience doing. If not for the experience of the reading alone, I thought that it was really great to see other students showcase their work. I am still most interested in prose but this was the first time I felt that I truly appreciated the poems- something I had not done much of before actually studying poetry this quarter. While I thought all of the pieces were very unique and deserving of their prizes, two of them espcecially stuck out to me.

One individual whose piece I enjoyed was George Malkin- although he is in no way new to these undergraduate awards. He did bring a bit of performance into the story, speaking in different voices for his various characters, but that is not why I enjoyed it considering I did not think the best aspect of his writing was his dialogue. Instead, I really enjoyed the narrative of his story and it was something that I felt was very flavorful and unexpected from a student. There were many images throughout his reading that really stuck with me and I liked how visual his writing was.

Katie Wu, another writer who has won her fair share of literary recognition while at Stanford, had a simple yet powerful piece, entitled “The Haircut,” which was probably my favorite of the night. There is something in the way of Katie’s writing that can really address deeper emotional and psychological issues without being too heavy-handed. This piece was non-fiction and told an anecdote about the only time Katie remembers her father laughing, while he was alive. The emotional connection Katie had with the story caused it to be properly charged both on paper and in her actual reading and even though there were very humorous instances in the piece, when Katie talks about her mother’s response after seeing that her daughter had chopped off all her hair, there is a gravity to the piece that is always there but does not detract from the lighter moments. I felt that she striked this balance beautifully and when thinking about all the things we wrote on the board at the beginning of this class about what we expect or want in a good narrative, I do not think this piece was wanting in much.