What could possibly be scarier than your old writing? That was the question asked by Oberlin’s Carrion Magazine last Monday night when it hosted its first ever reading, “Ghosts From the Past,” in Fairchild Chapel. Attendees were encouraged to bring old poetry, journal entries, fanfiction, and more from when they were younger — the target period being middle school — and read it out to an audience.
College third-year Annie Wyner, who co-founded the magazine last semester, served as emcee for the event. Wyner and the editing team cheered loudly and laughed at every joke, creating a positive environment and encouraging audience members to share their work in addition to those who had signed up prior to the event.
One reader, College third-year Ruby Ahdoot, was one of the attendees who had not anticipated reading their work, but ended up sharing. She credited the fun, comfortable environment created by the audience members and team for her decision to read.
“I wasn’t going to do it at first, but then seeing everyone share, I was like, ‘Might as well get up there,’” Ahdoot said.
Ahdoot shared a piece from her elementary school journal — a list of her favorite foods and why she liked them. Other pieces ranged from awkward middle school diary entries to Lord of the Rings fanfiction to a fictional rap about a boy with divorced parents. With the lights in the chapel turned all the way off except for phone flashlights shined on the speaker by audience members, the atmosphere was just as spooky and scary as it was warm and humorous.
“[Carrion is a way of] creating a space for people to be more playful, to play around with form, and take risks artistically,” Wyner said.
“Ghosts from the Past” certainly demonstrated these values; it created a welcoming space for people to share their funniest work in an uplifting and supportive environment.
“The whole idea of artistic vulnerability plays into that, just being willing to not take yourself too seriously and do stuff that’s scary and uncomfortable,” Wyner said.
However, College third-year Ruby Spencer noted that this was not the only reason Carrion hosted “Ghosts from the Past.”.
“Wyner suggested the event because we wanted to have more events to attract attention to the magazine,” Spencer said. “The magazine does focus on more experimental work and work that wouldn’t be published in other places. It’s supposed to invite unfinished work, … and I think the event went along with that theme. … The magazine is experimental, but it’s also new.”
Because it is only the second semester since Carrion’s creation, its biggest challenge is to establish a reputation and a following as a new student publication. A particular struggle the board has faced as a result of the organization’s youth is receiving enough submissions.
“To get people to submit without already having an established magazine, we have to do a lot of work with advertising and hoping people will take it seriously or see it as an option they’ll submit to,” Spencer said.
Luckily, “Ghosts from the Past” indicated an optimistic future for Carrion.
“I saw a lot of people there who weren’t editors,” Spencer said. “Even if people who came to the event won’t submit, I think this definitely helps get the word out a bit because people will definitely be talking about this. There was so much good work shared.”
According to Spencer, the event turned out even better than expected.
“I was scared that people weren’t gonna read; I thought that they were going to be super shy, but it was a pretty good turnout,” Spencer said, “I was expecting it to be only three people because the nature of the event is very embarrassing. It’s a big thing to get up there and read your old fanfiction from middle school.”
The event also landed well among audience members as well.
“I hope to see more things like this again,” College third-year Molly Higgins said. “I just can’t get enough.”
Higgins neither organized nor participated in the reading but had a positive impression of Carrion after attending.
Wyner’s biggest goal for Carrion is for it to continue after they graduate. This is something that will require a lot of work on the part of the board.
“I hope that by having more events and keeping open submission calls going, people feel like it’s a place where they can find a home for their work and where they can find a community,” Wyner said.
According to Wyner, Carrion has already experienced significant growth since its conception, and with more events like “Ghosts from the Past,” it will certainly continue to be a unique and welcoming place for students to share their writing.
