A celebration of Women’s History Month will take place in the IRC today, beginning at noon with readings of original stories and published literature by IMSA students, faculty and staff. The Read-In features IMSA groups the Bellas and the Fellas, and IMSA staff Leah Kind, Ph. D., Bonny Sucherman and Chris Whitehead.
Blogging live from the event:
Leah Kind, Ph. D. opened the Read-In by noting that it hasn’t always been easy for women to write and publish their work, and today there are women all over the world who are still writing under the shadow of fear and punishment. Kind went on to mention noted women writer’s throughout history and their contributions, and mentioned IMSA’s English teachers reminiscences about women writers.
The first reading was Sylvia Plath’s poem, “Lady Lazarus,” which contains what one reviewer called Plath’s “aggressive mythopoetic claim.” The line the reviewer referred to is, “Out of the ash/ I rise with my red hair/ and I eat men like air.”
The second reading was “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou. During the Read-In students read other works by Plath and well known writers, including Alice Walker and Sandra Cisneros. Only one student read her original writing – a poem she had written in Creative Writing class. the poem is “Never Again” and refers to violence against the author and what she does to end the abuse.
Tea was served during and after the Read-In.
