“We Write a World Around Those Moments”: A Q&A with Mahogany L. Browne, Shapiro-Silverberg Distinguished Writer in Residence

Poet, author, activist, and educator Mahogany L. Browne is having a moment. The stage adaptation of her acclaimed young adult novel Chlorine Sky premieres this month at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater. She’s finishing up a “poetic orchestral” performance she expects to unveil this spring at Wesleyan, where she’s deep into a stint with the inaugural group of Shapiro-Silverberg Distinguished Writers in Residence. And next week, Chrome Valley—the latest collection of verse from Browne, the first-ever poet-in-residence at New York’s Lincoln Center—was published by W.W. Norton & Company. Here, Browne offers insights into her work, creative process, and bringing a sense of…

On stage at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards on Tuesday night, Mike White ’92 gently ribbed the A-listers in attendance who’d turned down parts on The White Lotus. “I know you all passed—you all passed on this show,” White said to a chuckling audience. “So, yes, it’s very gratifying to have this moment.” It was a banner evening for White and The White Lotus, the acclaimed HBO dark comedy-drama about dysfunctional leisure-seekers on rapidly unraveling luxury vacations that he created, wrote, and directed. Cast by Meredith Tucker ’92, the second installment of the series received four 2023 Golden Globe nominations…

Forget the Christmas ham and the Fourth of July hot dog: there’s no ordinary-meal-turned-American-holiday-icon quite like the Thanksgiving turkey. In addition to adorning parade floats and being rendered via crayons and children’s splayed hands, turkey is expected to be at the center of the table for 85 percent of Thanksgiving celebrations this year. But turkey wasn’t the main course when the Wampanoags and Pilgrims convened for their legendary feast in 1621. In fact, it’s unclear whether it was on the menu at all: many experts believe fowl like duck, goose, or passenger pigeons were likelier complements to a feast that…

In the United States, firearms elicit clashing perceptions. They can be sources of leisure and recreation, of livelihood and profit, of grief and fear. “Guns mean different things to different people,” said Jennifer Tucker, director of the new Center for the Study of Guns and Society at Wesleyan, “and sometimes different things to the same people.” Held over October 14 and 15, the Center’s inaugural conference brought about 150 historians, museum curators, Wesleyan students, and others to campus to explore the historical contexts around one of the most polarizing subjects in modern America. The conference, “Current Perspectives on the History…

Yuri Herrera, part of Wesleyan’s inaugural Shapiro-Silverberg Distinguished Writers in Residence program, is regarded as one of the most remarkable writers in contemporary Mexican literature. In spare, weighty prose flecked with language-bending neologisms, Herrera explores borders—the physical, the social, and beyond—in books like The Transmigration of Bodies and Signs Preceding the End of the World, the latter of which The Guardian named one of the 100 best books of the 21st century. A professor at Tulane University in New Orleans, Herrera holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso and a PhD from the…

On a Friday afternoon on Huss Courtyard, hundreds of students clustered around tables in long unbroken rows, asked questions—or, given the music thumping from the PA system, shouted them—grabbed flyers and stickers, and scrawled their signatures on sign-up sheets. Once again, this year’s Wesleyan’s annual Student Involvement Fair showcased the spectrum of athletic, creative, cultural, and social clubs and activities on campus at the dawn of the academic year. As students looked for community many gravitated toward organizations devoted to civic engagement in all its forms, providing a chance to direct their passion in ways that can make an impact,…

A little after 6 p.m. last Tuesday, the din of pre-game practice shots and tinny hip-hop quieted inside Silloway Gymnasium, and Wesleyan’s women’s volleyball team assembled for the season opener against the Coast Guard Bears. Within moments of the first serve, the scoreboard registered the Cardinals’ lead: 5-0, a fitting start to a game that the No. 21 nationally ranked team ultimately won three sets to none. But it was also an accidental symbol: On the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments—the landmark civil rights law perhaps best known for expanding women’s opportunities to…

“We Write a World Around Those Moments”: A Q&A with Mahogany L. Browne, Shapiro-Silverberg Distinguished Writer in Residence

The White Lotus, Masterminded by Mike White ’92, Wins Two Golden Globe Awards

How Thanksgiving Became Turkey Day, According to Animal Studies Professor Elan Abrell

Center for the Study of Guns and Society Explores the Histories of Firearms at Inaugural Conference

The Musicality of Language: A Q&A with Yuri Herrera, Shapiro-Silverberg Distinguished Writer in Residence

At Student Involvement Fair, More Emphasis on Civic Engagement

Fifty Years After Title IX, Wesleyan’s Women Student-Athletes Push Forward