artist statement In the consistent upheaval of 2020, these photographs represent moments of beauty, peace, and blessed stillness. When I left Susquehanna for winter break the fall of my junior year, the campus I had always loved no longer felt like home. I was looking for an escape, a chance to rediscover myself following a …
photographer bios abigail krautheim is an avid lover of photography and animals. She is a double major in Publishing & Editing and English Literature and a triple minor in Professional & Civic Writing, Marketing, and Professional Sales. ayva valentine kunes is a senior double major in creative writing and philosophy. When not busy reading or writing, she …
2021 masthead jane seibert CO-EDITORS: bri murphy & abigail krautheim PRINT DESIGNERS AND CO-EDITORS: abigail krautheim & julie heaney READING BOARD HEAD: bri murphy READING BOARD: julia adams, emily hizny, olivia krise, courtney smith, devonne tourre COPYEDITORS: julia adams, emily hizny, courtney smith, devonne tourre FACULTY ADVISOR: hasanthika sirisena
letter from the editors Dear Reader, When we began this online platform, we said that this magazine would grow and evolve with its authors, readers, and creators. As seen through the literary community’s commitment to persistence through even the most trying of times, this prediction has clearly come to fruition. In just three short years, Essay has …
abigail krautheim Life is a learning experience Where we all do our best To keep our head above the water But I’m not swimming I’m climbing Constantly Depression has never been An ocean To me it’s a hole in the ground Where I sit at the bottom And hear everyone else up above Laughing and …
Read more “i’m not depr*ssed and other lies i’ve told myself”
2021 erik kirkland memorial prize ayva valentine kunes The Erik Kirkland Memorial Prize originates from tragedy—the death of a promising young man in a military accident. If anything positive can come from such misfortune, this award, in some small way, accomplishes this. The Writers Institute wishes to thank John and Sara Kirkland for giving their …
☆ erik kirkland memorial prize finalist ☆ jane seibert art by danielle fessler Fresh Sighing has become my new thing. Usually done in private: in bathroom stalls, in bed, after he goes to sleep. Sighing has become a way to readjust the weight and find another point that hasn’t become exasperated. My roommate asked me if …
Read more “five vignettes about the stages of decomposition”
bri murphy The day my grandfather died, I saw his body. My grandmother was frozen in the entrance of their living room, her unblinking, glassy eyes trained on the stiff, cold figure slumped over the couch. When my mother got the call from her mother that her father was gone, we had immediately rushed down …