Student Voices: Chapbook Work
Creative writing students at Carthage create a chapbook of their work. A chapbook is a short book of original poetry, fiction or creative non-fiction that is unified by content, theme or style. Here are excerpts of student work from chapbooks.
For a look at additional senior projects by English students, click here.
the toothbrush
By Sarah Welle
She sews memories on the hem of her skirt not to forget it punctured the skin the needle dropped blood on the fold of her coat and she scratched her eyelid turned up to see its full potential to be an eyelid or be more than skin on a wet surface impress leaves marks where it is pushed makes an impression not on her face her skirt just the edge of her knee are her favorite prepositions: up abroad per round and she knows what she doesn’t know might find her on a boat or in a mailbox and not under her eyelid where she keeps noises: cork pop, milk froth, silver on silver, toothbrush sink tap and the SNCF knows tones to warn or irritate like Microsoft knows the blue period it seems AaBbCcDd is normal like wearing a hat or looking at someone’s butt in jeans
Opposite Direction
By Eric Huff
our charcoal movements draw around each other
so that we are always just passing
in orbit we find each other opposite
passing daily
the air we breathe may mix up in a swirling pattern over our heads
seen only in Pollock’s meditations or
only in multi-colored oil leaks left
by autos on pavement
but then that’s it
20-Something Kindergarten Teacher
By Colleen Burkhart
Is it too difficult for her to wake up to the radio? Does the alarm clock remind her of the screaming children? Does she drink two cups of coffee even though it gives her the jitters? Will she stop at the gas station on the way there? Does she pick the old nicotine out from under nails while she waits for her tank to fill up? How does smelling her fingers sate her craving? Or does it make it worse? Is she quitting because it’s too expensive? Was that not motivation enough last time so now she uses the excuse of setting a good example for the kids? Does she rip the receipt out of the slot because after noticing how much it cost, she is confronted with the fact that it’s not worth it to drive this far for work?
When she enters the school, does she immediately feel out of place? Does the sea of wool pullovers with apples and chalkboards and “ABC” and cats and wooden toggles make her feel overdressed? Do the first grade teachers look down on her for her cardiganless attire? During math when she bends over, does she worry her shirt is too low cut? Did she not notice earlier during social studies because she would squat next to the tables instead? Was that method abandoned because her bad knee started acting up? Is it inappropriate for the kindergarten teacher to have hard nipples? When leading the kids for bathroom break, does she throw on a scarf to alleviate both problems of impropriety?
Do the presidential debates creep into her mind during story time? How does she feel about the candidates’ positions? Does she know what countries they’ve visited? Does know why each of them is important? Is she nervous about who they said the biggest threat to her country is? Is she calmed by the thought this war may be over in the next five to ten years? Does she fill with melancholy when she decides that even if this war is over, another one will start by the time her students are old enough to be drafted, should it get reinstated? Is she hesitant to believe the statistic that there is always a major war when there is a higher percentage of men in the world? Does she make another head count of the female-to-male ratio anyway?
At lunch, does she chat with the other teachers? Do they talk about their students? Or do they relish the break they have? Do they discuss the climate crisis? Do they miscall it “global warming”? Do they know why it shouldn’t be called that? When she sighs and departs for class, head bent down, do the first grade teachers sneer and whisper to each other that they "knnnneeeeeww she wouldn’t last"?
When they are back from lunch, do they head down the hall to the gym before the kindergarten teacher realizes it’s actually time to go to the library? Is she quick enough to tell them they are taking the adventurous way? Does she simply smile politely when the librarian compliments her scarf? How long has she been ignoring the librarian’s subtle flirtation? During gym class does the teacher call her boyfriend to give him one last warning? During nap time, does she nap, too? During art does she sneak a text message asking him if he’s still coming over that night for dinner?
Do her teeth grind together as the chalk breaks two letters into the science lesson? Does she notice there are still Trojans in her purse when she stops at her desk for more chalk? Is the teacher concerned the kids will find them when they want to play with the things on her desk during free time? Did she think about the kids last night when drinking the bottle of white wine by herself? Will the kindergarten teacher explain to the boys why they can’t bang two trains together today because of the banging in her head?
When the kindergarten teacher says goodbye and heads home as her students load the bus, do the kids wish the school day was a little longer? Are they disappointed when they get home to find their parents are working on TPS reports and deadlines? Do they try to play with their older brothers who would rather watch television? Or are they happy to pull up a seat and watch it too?
Confetti
By Hanna Gichard
a cloud of glitter debris forms
from the pieces of light caught in
shot glass rims
belt buckles
d r e s s s e q u i n s
heel toes
dangling earrings
cell phone screens (that little envelope
telling you 1 New
Text Message)
I c E c U B e s floating in a vodka
cranberry
a thick, thready pulse
Throbs
with every
sharp gulp of
SOCO lime
JAEGER Bomb
two girls giggle in trills and talk in slurs, loosely stumbling arm in arm;
tossing a $5 to the 1 AM cashier
and then devouring
their Jumbo Slices without
stopping for breath; forgetting
where they are as the city whizzes by out the window and
the numbers flutter on the cab fare box
WAKE UP Pennsylvania Avenue, Adams Morgan!
Crystal City Sports Pub,
Tortilla Coast on D Street and 1st!
Today’s daylight is gathering
itself
the featureless facades
of dusty cereal
boxes
shrink back from the street,
squinting out the daylight that tickles
their sticky beer stains, cigarette breath,
and empty overturned glasses
Student Voices
Maeve McFadden, '12
"Professors will push you to delve deeper and deeper into a text until your mind is blown at the level of sophisticated analysis you've just reached."
Read more ...
Read student voices featuring graduated students.
Student Work
Creative Writing. Creative writing students create a chapbook of their work. Read excerpts from student chapbooks.
Student Theses. The senior thesis, written during Senior Seminar, is an English major's most ambitious project. Read summaries of past students' work.
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J-Term
A special month-long period of study in January to experiment, create and dream. Read more ...
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