clarion.brevard.edu
Volume 85, Issue 7 Web Edition
SERVING BREVARD COLLEGE SINCE 1935
October 2, 2019
4th annual Working Writer's Reading
Bensel, Brown and finer present their original works
By Margaret Correll
Layout & Design
The Brevard College Humanities Division
showcased the 4th annual Working Writer’s
Reading on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019 at 7 p.m.
Three members of Brevard’s faculty presented
their original work to other faculty, students and
members of the community.
The evening opened with an introduction
from Dr. Jubal Tiner, an Associate Professor
of English at Brevard College and the third
and final presenter. He started with a quote by
playwright George Bernard Shaw, “Those who
can do, those who can’t teach.”
The first to showcase their work was Dr.
Margaret Brown, an Associate Professor of
History at Brevard College. She is the author of
many works and essays in non-fiction, including
the one she read titled “A Garden of Certainties.”
Brown’s essay focuses on her relationship
with her father, and her experience rescuing
refugee monarch butterflies from hurricane
Florence. Her essay detailed many aspects
about the growing of a butterfly and how that
experience, and the symbolism of milkweed,
impacted her. “It is at these times I remember
Dad, and then my messy garden, and then
Pequeno,” said Brown during her presentation.
Next to read her work was Dr. Alyse Bensel,
an Assistant Professor of English at Brevard
College. She is a successful poet and writer with
many publications as well as the director for the
Looking Glass Writer’s Conference.
Bensel read several poems from her poetic
biography of Maria Sibylla Merian titled
Rare Wondrous Things. This collection
included “Dear Esteemed Art-Loving Reader,”
“Housewife,” “Walta Castle,” Wild Wasps and
Nipple Fruit” and “Anansi the Spider Devours
the Hummingbird.” She also read two poems
not included in the collection titled “Darwin’s
Theory of Natural Selection in Every Parallel
Universe” and “Ivy in Every Parallel Universe.”
In Bensel’s collection she highlights Maria
Sibylla Merian and her breakthroughs in
research and metamorphosis. The poems focus
on the personal life as well as the research of
Merian. She included some descriptions of
Merian’s scientific and artistic illustrations and
how she became interested in Merian during
her presentation.
Jubal Tiner was the final presenter of the
evening, closing with one of his fiction works
previously published in the Moonshine Review
titled “Spelling it Out.” This short story followed
a woman, Lucy, seemingly unhappy in her
marriage, going through the motions of a night
out with her husband, Russell.
Tiner noted that he had made some changes
to the story before reading it to an audience, to
make it more PG-13.
The Working Writer’s Reading ended with
a panel for questions and answers from the
audience. The questions were aimed at Brown
and Bensel specifically, asking about butterflies
and Maria Sibylla Merian. Bensel mentioned
that she had focused her dissertation on Merian.
All three professors continue to create
personal works and teach at Brevard College.
The Humanities Department is happy to host
a presentation of original work by the school’s
faculty.
Margaret Brown presents her essay.
Alyse Bensel reads from her collection of poems.
Jubal Tiner reads his original work.