The New Writer’s Cabaret presents fresh voices

Photo by Tatianna Troxell ‘16

The weather on Tuesday was nothing less than abysmal. Cold temperatures and steady downpours left most people inside their dorms, but in the Marquis Faculty Dining Room, students gathered to indulge in a night of literary art.

The New Writer’s Cabaret gave students from creative writing classes and students pursuing honors in creative writing a chance to perform their original poems and works of fiction in front of their peers.

The students, dressed elegantly, walked up to the podium one at a time to present a short piece that they had written this semester. The content ranged from sandwiches dressed in gooey honey mustard, to characters searching for their soul mates. Each student had something unique to offer. The audience members, eager to support their fellow writers, provided a supportive atmosphere filled with appropriate gasps of shock or boisterous laughter.

One performer, sophomore Noah Drauschak, was not new to the writing world. Noah serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Non Cur and has had work published by the Marquis Literary Magazine.

“Last night’s event was a great opportunity for students on this campus to show their stuff,” Drauschak said. “The student literary culture isn’t particularly salient, so these kinds of events are important to make student-writers become more comfortable and confident with the craft and the performance of their art.”

Drauschak, who takes Professor Lee Upton’s Advanced Creative Poetry course, was worried about the course since he has always considered himself a “fiction-guy.” He is grateful that the course helped him open up his creative aperture and contextualize things he has not seen before.

Another student performer, English major Shehtaz Huq ‘14 read a piece of flash fiction at last year’s Cabaret. This year, she read an excerpt from her Creative Writing Honors Thesis, which actually stemmed from that very piece of flash fiction.

“I enjoyed hearing my peers go up and read. There’s so much good literature coming from student writers,” Huq said.

For many students, performing in the cabaret was a requirement as part of the class they took, but what once might have seemed like a chore became more of a reward as they realized the opportunity presented to them. The crowd was thoroughly supportive and impressed with the talent of the student writers from all class and experience levels. The cabaret was a sure treat on another rainy night.