Hello from Ireland! Well, hello from Lahinch, specifically. For those of you that don’t know, that’s on the west coast, south of Galway. It’s a beautiful coastal town that I will be calling home for the next month. Well known for it’s surfing and golf course, Lahinch hosts many tourists every year. My name is Emily Nevins, I’m a English and Marketing student as Hastings College, and I am one of the lucky students who was chosen to be a part of the Irish Fellows program at Hastings College. This means that, not only am I in Ireland right now, but I will have the opportunity to complete a research project while I’m here. I’m sort of cheating, because I’m actually going to do two, a publishing internship and a writing project. And these blogs too, of course. This week marks the beginning of those projects. Two days ago, four other students and I made the sixteen hour long journey from Hastings to Lahinch, Ireland along with Dr. Babcock, our professor. Our trip is one of many that have bee...

Alum Spotlight: Holly Auten I graduated from HC in 1998 with a major in English and minor in Religion. I had the good fortune of taking classes from all of the department’s professors: D. Lloyd, R. Lloyd, Marsh, Marvel, Fairbanks, and Malloy. Back when it was called Interim Term, I traveled to Ireland with Rich Lloyd and Rob Babcock to study the Easter 1916 uprising. My Langvardt Scholar presentation was about the making of the atomic bomb; I was inspired by my visit to the Trinity Site in New Mexico on the 50th anniversary. Albuquerque is my hometown. The books I’m holding are almost 30 years old.  They’re from Darrel Lloyd’s 19th century  British poetry class, which was my first  college-level literature course. I have a Master’s in English from Kansas State University. My career began in medical textbook publishing and evolved into software project management. Burnt out at age 40, I redirected my career by earning a Technical Writing Certification from Cal State East B...

Sierra DeMulder and her poetry have been a part of my life since I was in high school. I discovered her work on YouTube when I joined the speech team and was introduced to the world of slam poetry. I tried to memorize her poems and perform them for my friends, even performing her piece, “The Tampon Poem,” for a group project in my sophomore English class. I was so lucky to be able to attend Slam Poetry Summer Camp in 2015 and 2016, where I got to learn from Sierra and other talented poets for a whole week! Those two weeks were very much life changing for me and helped me find my voice. I left those weeks feeling powerful, capable, and heard, supported by a community of people who showed so much love. Sierra was so generous with her encouragement, affirmations, and knowledge. Sierra DeMulder is one of my favorite poets ever. She knows how to break your heart and put it back together again in a single poem. Her voice is gentle but strong and welcoming. She can capture the tiniest of mom...