Lauren Starnes

The Best of the Best…or Not?

Lauren Starnes

Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking with the Maori poet and scholar, Alice Te Punga Somerville. Alice was born and raised in Aotearoa, New Zealand and she is currently a visiting Professor of Aboriginal Studies at the University of Toronto. I have been studying poetry from the Pacific in my Twenty-First Century Poetry class with Professor and Poet, Lesley Wheeler, so it was exciting to meet a real poet from this portion of the globe.

In her lecture, Alice Te Punga Somerville mainly talked about the current condition of New Zealand poetry. Over the past decade, Bill Manhire and Damien Wilkins have compiled annual online collections of the Best New Zealand Poetry. Recently, they published The Best of the Best New Zealand Poetry, which contains what these individuals considered to be the absolute best from the past years online collections. Somerville pointed out that in both of these anthologies there was a disturbingly small number of Maori and Pasifika poets included. Although Manhire claims that this was because there are not very many Maori and Pasifika poets; this does not make sense because there are almost 80 such poets featured in Mauri Ola, which is an anthology of contemporary Polynesian poems published in 2010. The lack of Maori and Pasifika poets included in these collections results in a sort of chain reaction. Manhire, who is the first poet laureate of New Zealand, and Wilkins both exert a lot of influence on who gains admittance to MFA programs and who ultimately gets published.

This information made me wonder what minorities are not being represented in American poetry anthologies, or Canadian or even Spanish anthologies? This question relates to several issues that we have previously discussed on the Snopes blog. For instance, the Tucson book ban and The Penguin Anthology of 20^th Century American Poetry, edited by Rita Dove, are both connected to this question.

What are your thoughts? Do you believe that it is the editor’s duty to feature minorities in a national collection? Why or why not?

Check out the R.T. Smith’s past posts “Buried Antipathies: The Dove Anthology, Second Wind” and “Top Ten Reasons for Banning Books by Ethnic Minorities” for more information.

Senior at Washington and Lee University. Originally from Chattanooga, TN. Majoring in English.

Five Books that Will Change the Way You Read

Lauren Starnes

There are few things more fulfilling than reading a truly great novel. Often these rich and complex works do not make for the easiest reading, but the rewards make it a worthwhile endeavor. In these works, everything from the plot to the characters and language draws the reader in and beckons him to read on. During my lifetime I have come across several of these thought provoking novels that completely changed the way I approach literature. These life-changing books are packed with intricate language, motifs, characters, and provocative themes. After much thought, I have compiled a list of the top five works that changed the way I read. Enjoy!

1. A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway

I read this novel when I was a senior in high school and again in college. Each time I study this book I am in awe of Hemingway’s bare, yet incredibly poignant style. Through his usage of his own Hemingway Code the author creates nuanced shifts in tone, character, and setting. This novel alerted me to the power of motifs and symbols in literature.

2. All the King’s Men, Robert Penn Warren

It only took about one chapter in this wonderful novel for me to fall in love with it. Warren’s depiction of Willie Stark is at times beautiful and sympathetic, but at other instances damning and critical. Warren’s language and character development in All the King’s Men is unparalleled. I particularly love the foil created by Stark and the narrator, Jack Burden.

3. The Optimist’s Daughter, Eudora Welty

On the surface, Welty’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book seems simple and conservative. However as Welty herself once said in One Writer’s Beginnings, “I am a writer who came from a sheltered life. A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within.” The Optimist’s Daughter is clearly a testament to this idea. Welty’s seemingly traditional story explores such complex and provocative themes as love, death, truth, and relationships. Finally, she ventures to ask what happens when we realize our parent’s marriage was not what we originally thought it was.

4. The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner

In this dense and intricate work, Faulkner tells the story of the decaying Compson family. This unsettling story is unlike any other novel I have ever encountered. Faulkner experiments with time, psychology, sexuality, and conscious through the guise of various narrators. Reading and studying The Sound and the Fury taught me about new approaches to style, language, and character in literature.

5. Persuasion, Jane Austen

I’m sure most male readers are rolling their eyes at the inclusion of Austen on this list. As a woman, my affinity for Ms. Austen is probably coded into my DNA. Nevertheless, Persuasion is arguably the author’s best and often most under-appreciated work. This novel is darker than her previous books and represents a shift towards Romantic style and sensibilities. Austen is a master of dialogue and character development. If you can’t stand the love story, at least read and admire Austen for her wit, writing, and satire.

Senior at Washington and Lee University. Originally from Chattanooga, TN. Majoring in English.

Spring Fever

Lauren Starnes

It is finally March, and despite the freak snow fall we had yesterday in Lexington, it feels like Spring is in the air. Spring is by far my favorite season. I am not really sure why, but it might have something to do with the fact that my birthday is March 20th, which marks the official start of this glorious season. I am proud to share my birthday with noteworthy individuals such as Lois Lowry, the author of the classic children’s books The Giver and Number the Stars, as well as Mr. Rogers and Big Bird from Sesame Street. In addition to this momentous occasion, Spring is also a time of rebirth and new beginnings. The flowers are blooming, the sun is shining, and practically everything is green. At the risk of sounding overly optimistic and Disney-esque, I should mention that early Spring is also a time of repentance and reflection.

This confluence of natural beauty and reflection always brings to mind one of the definitive Romantic poems, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth. The Romantics are known for their obsession with man and his relationship with the natural landscape. In “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” Wordsworth explores the beauty of nature recollected in solitary contemplation.

Quotes from Wordsworth’s famous poem float through my head as I walk through Washington and Lee’s beautiful campus. I can’t pass by a bunch of daffodils in a neighbor’s yard without thinking of the lines “When all at once I saw a crowd;/A host of golden daffodils.” Spring truly is a time to sit back, reflect, and bask in the awe-inspiring splendor of nature.

Are there other poems that sing Spring for you?

Senior at Washington and Lee University. Originally from Chattanooga, TN. Majoring in English.

Homegrown Literature

Lauren Starnes

Reading a novel that is set in a place where you have actually lived or visited is an interesting experience. Being born and bred in East Tennessee, this is not a common occurrence, but it does happen. Usually, the books I read take place in distant or imaginary lands such as New York City, England, Yoknapatawpha County, or Middle Earth. However, over the past few years I have come across several novels that are centered on my home turf.

I have a complicated relationship with my Southern roots. Growing up I despised the South. I was perpetually embarrassed by my extended family’s twangy accent and bizarre colloquialisms. I despised traditional Southern food, I refused to read indigenous authors or listen to country music. In short, I was certain that I would flee the South as soon as I could. Thus, when I began my college search I confined my scope to the Northeast and Midwest. Imagine my surprise when I ended up falling in love with a school that is located in Lexington, Virginia and steeped in Southern history.

During my almost first few years at Washington and Lee, I have learned to love my home and my heritage. However, that is only the glamorous side of my Southern roots. Beneath the surface lurks the dark side of my family history. One side of my family is originally from deep in the Appalachian Mountains of East Tennessee. They are what you might call “hillbillies” and many of my ancestors were moonshiners. I tried to hide this side for years, but when we read Cormac McCarthy’s The Orchard Keeper last year in my Southern Fiction class, it all came flooding back.

McCarthy, an East Tennessee native himself, perfectly captured the region’s uniquely grating and nasally accent. The strange folktales that appear in the novel are the same stories that I grew up listening to whenever I visited my grandparents. The untamed and awe-inspiring mountains depicted in The Orchard Keeper, are the same peaks that I trekked through annually with my parents. Rather than feeling horrified and embarrassed by McCarthy’s depiction of my home, I felt proud. This novel made me realize that my culture was something to be celebrated. Now, I fully embrace my distinct Southern background.

What about you? Are there any novels that take place in your home town? Did they do the place justice?

Senior at Washington and Lee University. Originally from Chattanooga, TN. Majoring in English.

Cold Weather Reads

Lauren Starnes

Last week it seemed like Spring was just around the corner in beautiful Lexington, Virginia, but on Sunday Mother Nature surprised us with some last minute Winter weather. As I sat inside sipping Mint tea, eating peanut butter M&M’s, and watching the snow fall, I got to thinking about novels that are best read when it’s below freezing.

I made a short list of criteria for these novels. A good cold weather book must be engrossing. The story must transport you from your present dreary “winter wonderland” to sometime or someplace that is extraordinary. In these books, it is not necessarily the physical landscape that matters, but the novel’s emotional landscape is definitely important. Some of my favorite winter reads are Persuasion by Jane Austen, Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom, American Gods by Neil Gaiman, and Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre.

When reading during cold and dismal weather it is also essential to choose books that have happy endings. Nothing is worse than reading a depressing book when the outside conditions are equally disheartening. I once read Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic tale, The Road during a particularly gray, rainy week and I was miserable. So pick your cold weather books wisely! In short, curling up with a good book is one of the most rewarding and enjoyable activities imaginable!

What are your cold weather reads of choice? Do you have certain books that you read during other seasons?

Senior at Washington and Lee University. Originally from Chattanooga, TN. Majoring in English.

Poetry as Place

Lauren Starnes

One of the English classes I am taking this semester is Twenty-First Century Poetry: Here, Nowhere. The course is taught by the esteemed professor and poet, Lesley Wheeler who is a contributor to the current issue of Shenandoah. In Professor Wheeler’s class we are reading poetry and assessing how the poet describes a real or imagined space. We spent the first part of the term reading works focused on Hurricane Katrina. During the past few weeks I have become immersed in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region, studying poetry by Cynthia Hogue, Nicole Cooley, and Nathasha Trethewey. Although I have never visited New Orleans or its surrounding areas; their poetry transported me to this beautiful, tragic, and unique landscape.

This week, however, we shifted to reading poetry depicting an imagined space, The Hollow Log Lounge by Shenandoah’s very own R.T. Smith, to be exact. I expected that reading poetry about a fictional place would be a completely different experience than reading about an actual place. However, I was surprised by what I discovered. After finishing Smith’s book, The Hollow Log Lounge was just as real of a place to me as the Mississippi Gulf Coast or New Orleans’ French Quarter.

It is the author’s job to transmute a real or imagined space on to the page, so that the place becomes real for the reader. This is the beauty of an immersive reading experience. To me, there are few better experiences then becoming totally engrossed in a poem or work of fiction. What are your thoughts on immersive reading? Do you think it is a detrimental experience? Is it better for the reading to be constantly aware of the author’s artifice?

Senior at Washington and Lee University. Originally from Chattanooga, TN. Majoring in English.

When “Young Adult” is too “Adult”

Lauren Starnes

R.T. Smith’s most recent post got me thinking about various books that are considered Young Adult fiction and the controversy that surrounds them. Often there seems to be a gray area between books that are considered appropriate for children and young adults and those that are geared more for adults.

Every Christmas I return home mentally exhausted from the last few stressful weeks of the semester, which were primarily spent in the library writing papers and studying for exams. Thus, it has become a sort of holiday tradition that I dedicate a large portion of my break to relaxing and reading “fun” books. Usually I pick these so called “fun” books based on my eleven year-old brother’s knowledgable reccommendations of books that he read and enjoyed. For instance, last Christmas I read the entirety of Rick Riordan’s popular series Percy Jackson & the Olympians. The Percy Jackson books describe a fantastical world where Greek gods still exist and it clearly falls in the YA category. However, this Christmas I deviated from tradition and chose a book that my brother had not yet read. My mother asked me to read the first book in Suzanne Collins’s best-selling young adult trilogy, The Hunger Games, in order to determine if it was appropriate for my little brother. The Hunger Games is a fictional portrayl of a post-apocalyptic country called Panem, which exists where the countries of North America are located today. Every year in Panem, one girl and one boy from each of the 12 districts are selected by a lottery system to compete in a televised battle, in which only one child can survive. Although the writing in The Hunger Games is simple and straightforward, the content is a completely different beast. The story involves complex political, social, and ethical issues and also centers around children being forced to kill other children. I read and enjoyed The Hunger Games, but I concluded that my impressionable younger brother was not mature enough to read it.

What is your take on The Hunger Games and other young adult fiction? Are there other novels that fall into this gray area? What about the Harry Potter series, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, or The Giver: where do these books fall in the spectrum?

Senior at Washington and Lee University. Originally from Chattanooga, TN. Majoring in English.

@Shenandoah #AuthorsandSocialMedia

Lauren Starnes

Lately in our Shenandoah Internship meetings we have been discussing the shift from print to an online medium. We live in a world where practically everything and everyone seems to on the web, logged on, and high speed. In this fast paced and instant gratification society one has to wonder what will happen to print, authors, and literature in general.

Here at Shenandoah we have come up with a few ways to work within the online the community. The journal has a Facebook page, which is now under new management by the brilliant and witty team, Tim McAleenan and Caitlin Doyle. In addition, you can even follow your favorite literary journal on Twitter @ShenandoahLit! The idea of Shenandoah having a Twitter made me wonder what famous authors would subscribe to the popular social media site. After sifting through my mental catalogue of authors I came up with at least one writer who would definitely have a Twitter. Mark Twain, the legendary nineteenth century humorist and writer, was exactly the type of author who would have fully embraced Twitter. Twain’s illustrious wit is perfectly suited to the frank and concise nature of Twitter’s 140-character per Tweet format. I even took the liberty of choosing a few of my favorite Mark Twain quotes and converting them into proper Twitter-form. Enjoy these hypothetical Mark Twain tweets!

TheMarkTwain: Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint #hypochondriacs

TheMarkTwain: I have never taken any exercise except sleeping and resting. #healthnuts#lazydays#oldage

TheMarkTwain: Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. #annoyingfashions#toughlifefornudists

TheMarkTwain: It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. #stupidquestions#ignorantpeople

What are your thoughts on authors using Twitter? Can you think of any other writers who would be avid “Tweeters”?

Senior at Washington and Lee University. Originally from Chattanooga, TN. Majoring in English.