Why Banned Books Matter to You

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I was first presented with the concept of censorship in my freshman year of high school with my English instructor’s overenthusiastic ‘celebration’ of Banned Books Week.
In the fourth week of class, I remember walking to my desk to the sound of Mrs. Burrows’ marker squeaking against the whiteboard as she feverishly wrote out the titles of five books: The Great Gatsby, 1984, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, To Kill a Mockingbird and Junie B. Jones. Upon turning around, she asked the class what these books had in common, a question met by a combination of blank stares.

She tried a second time. “What is this week a celebration of?” Once again, she received deafening silence in response. Shaking her head, she scrawled the word ‘censorship’ on the board and thus began a semester long unit centered on the theme of censorship throughout literature and history.

Perhaps due to my own ignorance, and in part due to my school system’s previous lack of focus on the topic, censorship in first-world countries was a new concept to me. I knew of course that it existed throughout the world in the form of government oppression for the purposes of assuring no anti-political media was being fed to the public or no irreligious ideas were being spread in conservative countries. I never imagined, however, that censorship was an issue in America—an issue that is very much a concern today.

The notion that a writer armed with nothing more than an idea and pen could serve as such as a powerful weapon is a curious one. What is it about the written word that so frightens us, compelling governments to implement laws banning the products of an author’s ambition—the compilation of ideas written on the backs of coffeehouse napkins, stories etched into journals with the hope that someday, those very stories would be “enough” to really touch someone in the way only words can. Perhaps this is the very reason literature intrigues so many people just as it repels others. Willingly exposing yourself to a literary work is somewhat of an unspoken consent in allowing another’s ideas to merge with your own. This silent revolution is one world leaders are hopelessly trying to extinguish—feeding words into the mouths of authors with the threat of reducing them to oblivion. Ironically, by limiting the idea authors can share, this threat is already implemented. It is essential for our writers to not fall into this trap—to continue penning their unfiltered ideas—and being willing to brace the criticism doubtlessly endured by all great art. Just as the tragic heroes, the protagonists of our favorite tales must go through hell and back to become victorious, and the brilliance behind these tales, the authors, must take just as difficult of a journey in making the choice between submission to the mainstream literature or the struggle of penning their true words. The takeaway? Write warily, pen with caution, and allow your true voice to resonate.

Written by Nav Kaur, ’18

The Week I Met Wordsworth

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Over spring break, I had the brilliant opportunity to travel to the English Lake District (please Google this place, it’s a fairytale land) to study Wordworth in his beloved Grasmere. I cannot stop gushing about my trip; it was life-changing in so many respects, and I’ll take as much time out of my day as you want to show you my pictures and tell you my stories. But one of the greatest things I got out of this trip as an English major was the opportunity to truly connect with an author, to really get to know William Wordsworth as a human being who wrote poetry.

IMG_3531Here I am holding a first edition 1798 Lyrical Ballads. Yeah, that’s what it felt like to hold that book. Even after learning in detail how to pick up, hold, and open a book of such value and age, I was terrified. The process is almost holy, but when completed, it was the most exhilarating feeling. I held the beginning of Romanticism, the beginning of Wordsworth; that book was so much more than just old pages to me.

 

That day continued with a long walk through the countryside, as we traced Wordsworth’s footsteps through Hawkshead, traveling the same route he walked to get to school. Simply existing in the space he existed in made me realize that Wordsworth was a real person who had a special adoration the natural world that surrounded him. What a surreal moment it was, to look out at the same mountains he looked at, to watch the sun fall through the afternoon just as he would have.

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Hiking through Hawkshead

 

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The Goslar notebook

I could go on for days. How I touched the Goslar notebook, where The Prelude was born. How I held Wordsworth’s own copy of Paradise Lost, which was 100 years old when he owned it. How at least one person in our group cried everyday out of the intense emotion that comes with truly connecting with an author. How we ate dinner in Dove Cottage and read poems by candlelight. But these experiences are ones that have to be lived to be known. I know that traveling to England is not an option for everyone, but the ability to at once revere an author and know them as a person is absolutely possible for all lovers of literature. You can’t sit in a chair all day and expect to know who an author was. Before, during, and after reading, get out and live the literature you love. Trust me, you will be forever changed for the better.

 

Written by Emma Irving

To find out more about the Wordworth Trust and all the awesome programs they offer, visit: https://www.wordsworth.org.uk/home.html.

Forget the Hard Stuff: This is Why You Should Fall in Love with Poetry

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And, more importantly, fall in love with your own poetry. Forget what your English and Creative Writing professors have taught you. (I know they’re reading this, and I’m sorry, but do it.) Learn how to write for you.

Hi, me again. The obnoxious blogger who reminded you why Percy Shelley was still relevant.  Today I’m reminding you why you should want to write poetry. Here’s the simple answer: it’s FUN.

Here’s the long answer:

Of course writing for classes and publication are different than what I’m talking about here, but remember that poetry should be an exploration. Play with form. Play with sound. Play with images. Poetry is great in its very few rules, and, when you are writing solely for your own enjoyment, those rules don’t exist at all.

I’m not talking about writing sappy love poems after you share a first kiss with someone—though absolutely write those too. I’m talking about putting one word after another just to see what happens. So many students seem to forget what makes poetry so exciting. It’s discovering what you can create with words and images. Poetry is fun because it’s short—you can write a poem in two minutes, if you must—but also because it’s so sound-oriented.

Play with words! Make them your own. You never have to show anyone. Play with rhyme scheme and meter. Do it on your own time. Don’t worry about your class assignments. It is so vital for writing majors to practice the art of writing for the sound of it. Listen to the way the words move. Feel the way they move you.

Let’s apply this to (of course), an old dead poet. My favorite. Langston Hughes.

In case you haven’t read it (though what English major hasn’t?), here it is.

The instructor said,

Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you—
Then, it will be true.

I wonder if it’s that simple?
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went to school there, then Durham, then here
to this college on the hill above Harlem.
I am the only colored student in my class.
The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem
through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,
Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,
the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator
up to my room, sit down, and write this page:

It’s not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I’m what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me—we two—you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York too.) Me—who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records—Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn’t make me NOT like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white—
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That’s American.
Sometimes perhaps you don’t want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that’s true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me—
although you’re older—and white—
and somewhat more free.

This is my page for English B.

Forgetting content for a minute—which is incredible in and of itself—let’s look at what makes this a fun read. The first amazing thing about this poem is how natural it sounds—it sounds like conscious thought. The second awesome thing is the rhyme scheme that totally is intentional but totally doesn’t sound intentional. Cool, right?

But writing polished poetry with an important message and cool internal rhyme and proper metre and all these other things does take time, and it can become more cumbersome. Less about the fun. So let’s look at another poem.

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought–
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

‘And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!’
He chortled in his joy.

‘Twas brillig and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Lewis Carroll’s Jaberwocky is a great example of stretching language to find something new. Carroll is the only one to ever use some of these words, and the poem is fun to read.

Be brave; try new things. Push words around on a page. Speak out loud to yourself. Though something good may come of it, know that you can always write something else later. Poetry for a grade is good, but poetry for yourself, and for the enriching and benefiting of your own mind, can sometimes prove more fruitful in the long run. Remember that poetry shouldn’t be a chore, but something you want to pursue! Remember that you can write poetry for you!

That rhymed. Guess I’m a poet too!

 

 

Loss of a Literary Legend: A Tribute to Harper Lee

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On Friday, February 19, the world mourned the loss of literary icon, Harper Lee and the following day, at age 89, the beloved author, woman, and friend was laid to rest. The tragic news was confirmed by the mayor’s office in the town where Lee was born, raised, and passed: Monroeville, Alabama. The report was made public by Al.com.

How does one commemorate the life of an author brimming with accomplishments, accolades, and insight? I could spend hundreds of characters recounting definitive biographical details, numerous words reminiscing the immense impact a single author’s piece of literature had on the entire world and anyone that flipped through its pages. I could spend days and countless hours pondering in front of my computer screen, fingers idly hovering the keyboard, knowing that none of the words I want to say are worthy enough for such an influential and inspiring woman.

Only a few had the honor of knowing Lee personally. Several had the privilege to ask her questions and pick the brain that brought us one of the most significant American novels. Others, her readers, knew Lee through her invitation to Maycomb, Alabama, the confident voice of Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, and the admiration of literary hero, Atticus.

In 1960, the world had the pleasure of meeting the small-town Alabama author. Her Pulitzer Prize winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, spoke volumes about humanity, justice, and prejudice through the innocent eyes of a child. The novel, dubbed a classic piece of American literature, “has been translated into more than 40 languages with more than a million copies sold each year,” a story that is taught in classrooms internationally.

As a writer, whether To Kill a Mockingbird falls into your lap during a high school English class or you stumble upon it on your own accord, Lee has so much to teach you. First and foremost, Lee teaches us what it’s like to be a writer. She exemplifies the success, the obstacles, the hardships, and the passion for the craft.

In a 1964 interview conducted by Roy Newquist, Lee divulged ample words of wisdom pertinent to aspiring writers and a testament to her legacy.

She demonstrated that it’s okay to write about what is familiar. There are several parallels that can be drawn between life in To Kill a Mockingbird and the life of Harper Lee. Hints of her lawyer father, Amasa Coleman Lee, live in Atticus Finch from occupation, to values, to the defense of African American men in trial. She pulled aspects of herself to shape strong-willed protagonist, Scout. Even the southern setting, Maycomb, Alabama parallels Lee’s hometown. Lee took what she knew, fused it with empowering words, a compelling, impactful story-line and unforgettable characters. She took a small-town story and paired it with realistic American issues to create this overnight classic.

Lee taught us the importance of empathy and characters in saying “Characters make their own plot. The dimensions of the characters determine the action of the novel.” To Kill a Mockingbird gifted the world with memorable characters that will live on in the midst of Lee’s legacy. You become a part of Maycomb’s community. You love, admire, and look up to Atticus as Scout does. You inhabit a sense of childish innocence and sense of adventure with Dill, Scout, and Jem. You want to protect the introvert, Arthur “Boo” Radley just as much as he wants to protect the kids. You feel what they feel, learn what they learn and keep in the back of your mind Atticus saying, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

Lee taught us that if it is a passion, you need to pursue it. Writing is time consuming. It demands full and undivided attention. Lee was fortunate enough to be given the gift of financial support from a close friend, so that she could devote herself to writing full time. She says, “I like to write…when I get into work I don’t want to leave it.” And, with that devotion, with that passion, Lee cannot stress enough that writing is something one must do for themselves. The young writer cannot sit down to write with the intention of getting rich, receiving praise, and to create something for the world. Writing like that loses authenticity. She believes, “You must come to terms with yourself about your writing. You must not write “for” something; you must not write with definite hopes of reward…Writing is selfish and contradictory in its terms. First of all, you’re writing for an audience of one, you must please the one person you’re writing for….Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself.”

It is surreal to think that a woman that could teach the world so much could be taken from our lives. Harper Lee was always someone I believed to be immortal and, in some ways, I still believe she is, because Harper Lee loved to write and in doing so she placed a little bit of her soul into whatever she left behind. Harper Lee will live on in her novels, in her characters, in her tremendous contribution to society. She writes in To Kill a Mockingbird, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us.” Thank you for singing your heart out Harper Lee.

Written by Carlie Sisco

(Image by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

6 Things Wrong with Shakespeare’s “Epic Romance” Romeo and Juliet

Valentine’s Day; a holiday chock full of passion, romance, and chocolate. For some, the day is awaited with eager anticipation of receiving flowers, gorging ourselves heart-shaped candy, and spending time with a loved one. For the rest, we barricade ourselves in our room with a bowl of popcorn and nurse our lonely hearts by binge-watching Netflix. But what ever happened to good ol’ romance? Where are the heartfelt declarations of love? Perhaps you fill this void by reading Shakespeare’s celebrated Romeo and Juliet, a tale of star-crossed lovers destined for tragedy.

Well, this year I highly encourage you to reconsider your choice of literary satisfaction, because I’m here to tell you 6 things that are wrong with Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and trust me; after this, you won’t be longing for a Romeo to come clambering up your balcony any time soon.

1.They knew each other for a day

I can’t even imagine going on a date with someone I’ve known for less than a day, let alone marrying them. For those of you who might be a bit fuzzy on the finer details, the timeline of Romeo and Juliet goes like this; on Sunday night, Romeo goes to the Capulet’s party. He and Juliet lock eyes and fall passionately in love. They get married the next day and die a few days later. The end.

This famous Shakespearean tragedy was based on Arthur Brooke’s 1562 narrative poem, Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet, which was taken from another fable, which was taken from another. Seriously, the story behind this play is ancient. Shakespeare published his play thirty-five years later, in 1597. Brooke’s version may be a little drier, but their relationship took place over nine months, which allowed for a more development than Shakespeare’s condensed version, which happened in less than a week.

2.  Juliet is the rebound

After Romeo gets friend-zoned by Rosaline (who has taken a vow of chastity), his Montague bros take him out to a party to forget about her, “By giving liberty unto thine eyes. / Examine other beauties” (1.2.225). Here he sees Juliet and enters into a whirlwind romance that seems completely unrealistic today, unless you need a green card or get drunk in Vegas and make questionable decisions. And even if he does truly love her, our precious, naïve Juliet is nonetheless Romeo’s rebound in an attempt to mend his broken heart and piece together his shattered manhood.

3. In Romeo’s case, “creepy” is often mistaken for “romantic”

Sure we all know Romeo’s legendary pickup line: “O then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do / They pray; grant thou, lest faith turn to despair” (1.5.102). But using religion to coerce her? Okay, I might be exaggerating, but doesn’t this seem a bit like Romeo is forcing himself on her? And this is not the only time he does it.

After the party ends, Romeo creeps around Juliet’s backyard until he sees her on the balcony. He does not tell her that he is there, but listens to her private musings. Upon his exposure, Juliet says, “What man art thou that thus bescreened in night / So stumbles on my counsel?” which is pretty much saying “WTF dude?”

Romeo proceeds to flatter her with words of love that—let’s be honest, would probably win over anybody, male or female—until he forces her to say the big ILY. At first Juliet shows promising signs of sensibility and refuses him, saying, “Although I joy in thee / I have no joy of this contract tonight; / It is too rash, to unadvised, too sudden” (2.2.116-118). However, Romeo then guilt’s her into professing her love, crying, “O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?” and asking for “Th’ exchange of thy love’s faithful vow for mine” until she finally gives in (2.2.125-127). Keep in mind, this takes place only hours after they met.

4. Marriage

Okay, so this one isn’t bashing on Romeo, but on Juliet’s other suitor, Paris (if you can even call them suitors). At first, Capulet, Juliet’s father, wants Paris to “woo” Juliet because he values her consent. Juliet’s mother thinks he’s beautiful, so she cannot fathom why Juliet would be opposed to the marriage. Later, when Juliet is upset about Romeo’s banishment and Tybalt’s death, Paris (now with her father’s blessing) tries to force her into a marriage, which makes her take ridiculously extreme measures to get out of it. Neither Paris nor Romeo actually court Juliet, which makes me kind of feel bad for the girl.

5. Family does not seem to be a priority

Romeo finally gets over Rosaline by latching onto Juliet, who is none other than Rosaline’s cousin! (Somebody has a thing for Capulets)

There’s also the whole thing that hey, nobody else—not even Juliet’s trusted nurse—thinks this relationship is a good idea, but they do it anyway! YOLO

Granted, there are a lot of great themes in this play, such as the pointlessness of blind hatred perceived through the feud between the Capulets and Montagues. This tension culminates in the scene where the two sides fight for their pride, which only leads to meaningless death and suffering. Tybalt of the Capulets hates Romeo because he’s a Montague, and because Romeo won’t fight him (none of them know of his marriage to Juliet), his friend Mercutio impulsively decides to fight Tybalt himself, and is promptly killed. In a fit of rage, Romeo kills Tybalt, Juliet’s beloved cousin, to avenge his friend’s death. Apparently “an eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind” hadn’t been written yet. (Gandhi, by the way, and he was born in 1869)

Juliet basically says, “Romeo killed my cousin, my childhood companion, my own flesh and blood! But then again, Tybalt would have killed Romeo, who I have been married to for three hours and have known for about a day, so you know, the pros outweigh the cons.” Basically. Loosely translated. Anyway, then she doesn’t even want to mourn Tybalt’s death: “Wash they his wounds with tears? Mine shall be spent, / When theirs are dry, for Romeo’s banishment” (3.2.130-131). She won’t cry for her dead cousin, but will for her banished husband of three hours? I don’t know about you guys, but I think she really needs to sort out her priorities. (Harry Potter, anyone?)

6. Pretty much every one dies because of two kids’ infatuation with each other

I mean seriously, why is something so violent, corrupt and bloody considered one of the greatest love stories of all time? I guess there are the good elements, that love conquers all (except, you know, death), tragedy can bring people together, the individual versus society, and the inevitability of fate, but seriously; do yourself a favor and read Wuthering Heights or Pride and Prejudice. They’re much more satisfying.

Written by Jennifer Rohrbach

Used the Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare 2012 edition

New year, new issue!

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Welcome back everyone! To kick off a new semester, we’ve launched Issue 15, which can be viewed here! These pieces truly are the best of the best…out of the dozens of submissions we received last semester, the 8 featured in this issue truly blew us away! Take this relaxing Sunday to read each piece in the issue and get inspired, because we are reading submissions for Issue 16 now through March 1st!

Continue to follow our team this semester by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter, and keeping up with the blog here. Best wishes for a successful and happy spring semester from everyone at the Blue Route!

We did it!

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Happy end of the semester everyone! From all of us here at the Blue Route, we hope you crushed your finals/final essays/projects, had safe travels home, and are ready to enjoy an awesomely relaxing winter break. Keep an eye out for our next issue launching in January…until then, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!

Sara Jaffe’s “Dryland” Provides Splashes of Feeling in a Hard-Set Reality

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Need a break from the billion assignments you have to complete as the semester wraps up? Staff member Kelsey reviews and recommends Dryland by Sara Jaffe for your reading pleasure in the midst of all the insanity.

Dryland, Sara Jaffe – Tinhouse Books, Sept 2, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-941040-13-3

dryland“I looked at my reflection in my dad’s computer screen. In a way I looked like my brother, and in a way I didn’t.” Julie Winter, the narrator of Sara Jaffe’s latest novel Dryland is a young fifteen year old girl in 1992 who struggles to find her own identity after her brother Jordan almost became an Olympic swimmer. Through a novel that doesn’t rush or drag, but beats back and forth like water, Jaffe creates a tangible world that addresses identity of all types.

The book opens with Julie poring through swimming magazines in search of her brother’s face at Rich’s News, an activity she seems to have done often. Forced under her brother’s shadow, Julie herself has no base personality. Nothing interests the character at all; every force in Julie’s life at the start of the novel seems to be spurred by her best friend Erika, a girl who is easily wrapped up in boys, shopping, yearbook club, and anything a stereotypical middle-school girl would love, though she’s old enough to be in high school. In a scene at an outdoor river market early in the book, Erika points out all the skater boys who take her fancy. “Which one do you think is the cutest?” She asks. Julie pointsat a boy who Erika also agrees is cute, until the guy “took off his baseball cap and his long hair went down past his shoulders… It wasn’t a guy. It was suddenly so obviously not a guy.” Julie’s anguish reaveals more to the reader than she herself is aware of. This is the audience’s first encounter with her sexuality, a motif she must learn to come to terms with.

Julie trudges through her life until she is invited onto the swim team by Alexis, the girls’ team captain. Julie takes the bait, expecting to be a natural in the water like her brother. She’s awful. She doesn’t have enough strength or stamina to finish training without stopping for breaks. She does badly at meets. She doesn’t even seem to be making new friends on the team apart from Alexis, who snakes into Julie’s life and invites her to club parties. Meanwhile, Julie is making friends with Ben, an ex-acquaintance of her brother’s who lost contact with him after Jordan moved away.

As Julie reveals her sexuality both to herself and the reader through fragmented experiences with Alexis, she learns more of her brother’s hidden homosexual past. Scandals with Jordan’s swim coach and a porn magazine leave Julie worrying if her brother was healthy or sick with AIDS— and if he was even still on the other side of the world like he’d last said. “He could be in San Diego, one hand on his coach’s dick,” thought Julie. The two intertwined discoveries chip at Julie’s personality in a way that feels almost suspenseful; readers are enticed to learn more about the connections between Julie, her sexuality, and the ever-expanding world around her, driving the book forward.

Early on in the novel, Julie had addressed the lack of common interests shared by herself and Erika. “If Erika and I stopped being friends, it might be sad for a moment, and then okay. It would be what got called growing apart, which sounded calming, a floating, a benign disintegration.” Surprisingly, the two keep a complacent relationship. In this way, Jaffe hints at the forced high school relationships people cultivate for the sole purpose of having someone else. The usual novel arc would have seen a split between the two girls, but thankfully the relationships in Jaffe’s novel are neither typical or simple. Something much more complex beats beneath the surface.

Julie’s relationship with Alexis also goes much deeper than a stereotypical young-adult-novel-type relationship. The way the two girls gravitated around each other created a dynamic that was both interesting and intelligent. The way that Julie obsesses over Alexis caused the relationship or lack thereof to feel much more realistic. The reader believes Julie is crushing on Alexis before Julie herself realizes it.

Like the themes of friendship, sexuality, and identity Jaffe molds in her book, Jaffe’s prose cultivates very real images that shimmer for the reader. “It was shiny out. The pavement was slick and the streetlights were starfishes of light… My mind felt foamy and clean.” Lines throughout the book ebb and flow like waves. “Country Feedback” by R.E.M. is a recurring song that follows Julie throughout the piece, pulling the novel like the moon pushes the tides. When it is first introduced, Jaffe writes, “The song scooped something out of me. It was listening to me and watching me in ways it shouldn’t.”

Dryland feels real in the best way possible, making it seem more like a piece of creative nonfiction. Jaffe has created a world so much bigger than Julie herself.So many issues in Julie’s life exist outside the bounds of the story, creating a sort of poetic glimpse into this young girl’s life; as in poetry, Jaffe takes a moment, stretches it, digs into it. While Julie herself never goes through any sweeping changes, she does develop, and her world does grow over the course of the novel. Having a passive main character is a risk, but Jaffe creates an elegant world that encompasses Julie and overwhelms her. Jaffe offers readers a story vivid enough that it is not only seen, but felt.

By Kelsey Styles ’17, originally published on The Blue&Gold

Community Bridge Bridges Community

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Lately, there’s been a huge push on our campus to connect the city of Chester and Widener University through art…we love it! Staff member Kelsey Styles tells more about the latest of such events, Boundaries and Bridges, which seeks to both strengthen the art and cultural presence in the city, as well as connect the university to the city.

On November 13, students, faculty, and professors of Widener University meshed with members of the community on the Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge as part of the much larger Boundaries and Bridges project.

John Carr performs a song for Devon Walls' promotional Boundaries and Bridges video.

John Carr performs a song for Devon Walls’ promotional Boundaries and Bridges video.

The hum of engines pulsed in the background, but that did little to deter performers as they stood in front of Devon Walls’ camera and read their work or talked about their projects or sang songs inviting change. Some cars honked up at them, but that only encouraged the crowd. To Walls, a Chester artist, their noise promotes notice. It means people are wondering why so many individuals are hanging out over Interstate 95.

At the end of the event, attendees dance and have fun as part of a larger celebration.

At the end of the event, attendees dance and have fun as part of a larger celebration.

The Walnut Street Bridge doesn’t connect the communities between Widener and Chester—it separates them. The highway whirring underneath acts as a wall between one group and another. The goal of Boundaries and Bridges is to mend these two broken worlds through art, because art is the medium connecting all living things.

Artists collectively share canvases to create a joint masterpiece as a symbol of what the Boundaries and Bridges program aims to do.

Artists collectively share canvases to create a joint masterpiece as a symbol of what the Boundaries and Bridges program aims to do.

The program truly kicked off the Friday previous when an information session was held discussing what the program planned to do after it received a Catalyst Grant from the Barra Foundation, which “works to advance Greater Philadelphia’s culture of innovation.” The goal of Boundaries and Bridges is to both strengthen the art and cultural presence in the city, as well as connect the university to the city.

Blue Route staff member Kim Roberts takes her turn with a brush.

Blue Route staff member Kim Roberts takes her turn with a brush.

Widener students, children, and members of the community all worked to create a new piece of art.

Widener student, children, and members of the community all worked to create a new piece of art.

To find out more, like the Boundaries and Bridges page on Facebook, or visit The Artists Warehouse on 515 Avenue of the States in Chester. It’s time to move with the movement, cross that boundary, and build a bridge. What is your university doing to spread the arts around your community? Comment and let us know!

blue and gold 2

By Kelsey Styles ’17, originally published on The Blue&Gold

Happy FUSE Conference Week!

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It’s finally here! From everyone on the staff at the Blue Route and all those in the English & Creative Writing department and beyond, we cannot wait to welcome everyone to Widener to have an awesome FUSE conference!

The theme of the conference this year, “Will You Look at That?” places a focus on aesthetics and its interactions with such topics as individual publications, the process of evaluating submissions, the digital realm, and the community. We’ve got two and a half days packed with panels by student editors from 14 different universities around the country, as well as some awesome special events such as:

  • Keynote speaker Lisa Funderburg, the author of Pig Candy, speaking on Thursday afternoon
  • Special Presentations by professional editors and Widener faculty, as well as one by Widener students engaged with textual scholarship
  • Fun evening activities like an Open Mic hosted by the English Club and a concert by Smart Barker (rock-n-roll with a literary twist)
  • A Saturday morning excursion to the Brandywine River Museum to finish out the conference

Remember to take tons of pictures and hashtag everything with #FUSE15 on social media so we can live tweet the conference!

It’s going to be the best FUSE conference yet…see you soon!

Written by Emma Irving