Three visiting authors read from their writing Thursday night in a seasonably chilly Old Main Chapel.

The Reflector, the Department of English and the College of Arts and Sciences sponsored the poet Karla Kelsey, the novelist Erin Entrada Kelly and the memoirist Jen Hirt.

The authors read from their works that displayed the different formal conventions and methods to make meaning, but also the author’s different foci and backgrounds.

Professor Neil Connelly introduced the writers but also announced that submissions to The Reflector, the journal of creative writings, will be accepting new submissions until Nov. 14 along with $150 being awarded for top works.

Kelly read from her novel “Blackbird Fly,” which will be released in spring 2015. The story is a coming-of-age tale of a 12-year-old Filipina facing the crises of reconciling immigrant culture and a developing self in the U.S. South. Kelly’s writing, even though written for middle-grades, is full of symbols and metaphors. Young readers may not get the foreshadowing in snow being, “a sign that the seasons of our lives are changing”; however, they are forced to see through the narrator’s eyes to accept, and for that reason Kelly’s novel could be popular in the coming years.

“A Conjoined Book” was one source of Karla Kelsey’s readings for the night. Her book of poetry interweaves a classic Grimm fairy tale with scenes from Kelsey’s experience in central Pennsylvania; she teaches at Susquehanna University.

She described her poetry as looking through the stained-glass in Old Main Chapel but only if it was broken and you could see the mountains beyond. The background was the retelling of the “Juniper Tree” Grimm Tale and the foreground was images of central Pennsylvanian landscapes. Dancing between grisly plot and serene landscape, Kelsey managed to breathe new life into the old story and continued the poetic tradition by adapting traditional stories to modern forms.

Jen Hirt, an assistant professor at Penn State Harrisburg, read from her creative non-fiction essay, “Not Less than 1000 bottles for horseradish.” Hirt humorously walked the audience through the story of her great-grandfather’s radish production and her search for that portion of her heritage. Her memoir introduced her historical and current family in very funny and personal terms, and it was not simply a historical record but a complete and entertaining story.

Amidst the mostly extra-credit attendees in various stages of consciousness and the few English majors and Reflector staff genuinely interested who gathered in Old Main Chapel, the authors all wove together different modes and themes to create poignant, creative and entertaining writing.
For more information about The Reflector email reflect@ship.edu or visit their facebook.com/Shippensburg.reflector

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