Ouachita Stories

Five Ouachita Baptist University English majors will present their original work at the 2010 Sigma Tau Delta International Convention March 17-20 in St. Louis, Mo. At a convention with 800 attendees from all over the U.S., the students will also have the opportunity to hear from other students, attend lectures by renowned authors and tour the city.

“We've been very consistent over the past few years to be able to have students present at Sigma Tau Delta international conventions,” said Dr. Doug Sonheim, Ouachita’s Clarence and Bennie Sue Anthony Professor of Bible and Humanities and chair of OBU’s English department. “We've been fortunate to have students attend conferences at Portland, San Antonio, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Memphis.”

Students who are a part of Sigma Tau Delta, an international English honors society, had the opportunity to submit a maximum of two pieces of different genres to the honors society, and judges chose who would present at the annual convention. The genres open for submission were critical essay, creative nonfiction, poetry, fiction, drama/screenplay and common reader.

Hannah Holmes, a senior from Omaha, Ark., presented a creative nonfiction piece at last year’s convention in Minneapolis, Minn., and will present an essay from the same genre this year in St. Louis. “It was one of the best experiences of my life,” Holmes said. “It was the first time I ever felt as if I had a ‘niche.’ I couldn't stop smiling for a whole week after the convention.” This year Holmes will present a creative nonfiction essay, “Foreigner,” a piece from the perspective of Holmes’ 12-year-old self as she and her family move to a foreign country.

“It's always nice to boost my resume with a conference presentation or publication. Plus it's valuable experience,” Holmes added. “If I go on to graduate school, I will undoubtedly present papers, and even if I don't continue in the academic world, public speaking is an invaluable skill.”

Ian Whitlow, a senior from River Ridge, La., is looking forward to ways the experience can help make him a better writer. “I hope that I benefit from this convention by receiving some feedback about the quality of my poetry and some ways that I can improve it,” he said. Whitlow will present a collection of poems titled “Disillusionment of a Keats in Converse” about the disillusionment that comes with manhood.

The students will present their own works and listen to other students, but they will also be hearing from successful authors including novelist Chris Abani, author of the bestselling novel GraceLand and the award-winning Song for Night; poet, essayist and novelist Judith Ortiz Cofer, author of 11 books in multiple genres; poet Li-Young Lee, author of four critically acclaimed books of poetry including his most recent Behind My Eyes; and writer Azar Nafisi, author of the national bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books.

“I think that such an environment is great at fostering a love for literature, even if that literature is outside one's normal vein of study,” said Megan Gentry, president of OBU’s Sigma Tau Delta chapter and a senior from Alexander, Ark. “I always enjoy listening to people who are passionate about a particular topic—sometimes the topics are incredibly quirky, and the presenter's comments are fun and insightful at the same time.”

Gentry will be presenting a creative nonfiction piece, “The Way I See It,” at the convention. It was originally written for Dr. Deborah Root’s feature writing class and is a creative description of what books look like both to Gentry’s physical eye and her mind’s eye.

The participation of Ouachita students in this renowned convention reflects back on the merit of the university and the English department, Sonheim said.

“It confirms what we know, that our English major as a program is as good as or better than any in the nation,” he noted. “Our students compare favorably with other students, as do our graduates, whether in graduate programs or professionally.”

Also presenting at the convention are Rachel Dunnahoe and Liz Richardson.

Dunnahoe, a December 2009 OBU graduate, will be presenting her critical essay titled “Hey, Fyodor, Leave Them Jews Alone: Dostoevsky’s Anti-Semitism,” which calls attention to Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky’s anti-Semitic writing in his journalism and classic novels. She will also present an original short story titled “What a Waste” about a man and woman’s hypothetical meeting in a coffee shop, told primarily through dialogue.

Richardson, a senior from Sheridan, Ark., will be presenting “Stories of Others,” a collection of poems, as well as a critical essay titled "Conflict, Irony, and Ambiguity Illuminate Wharton's Message in The Age of Innocence."

Sigma Tau Delta, founded in 1924, is an international English honors society and is part of the Association of College Honors Societies. There are more than 750 chapters located throughout the United States, the Caribbean and Europe with a total of 8,500 members inducted annually. The Ouachita chapter coordinates multiple events for the university such as publishing the OBU literary journal SCOPE, hosting lecturers and conducting high school writing contests.

For more information about Sigma Tau Delta or the English department, contact Dr. Doug Sonheim at [email protected] or (870) 245-5554.

By Rebecca Stone