Schuyler Burke

Editor’s note: This column was submitted to the Texan by a member of the UT community.

For me, being a Longhorn means being a writer. Coming to UT as a graduate student at the Michener Center for Writers, I was introduced to a rich community of writers, taken seriously as a part of that community, and granted the time and freedom to discover who I was as both a writer and a person. UT is brimming with literary activity, and there are writers everywhere among us. Not only do we boast a world-class collection of literary artifacts at the Harry Ransom Center, but there are two graduate creative writing programs at UT and a panoply of readings and lectures sponsored by numerous departments throughout the academic year. There’s also the homegrown Bat City Review, and a whole range of other stellar literary publications like SPARK, Apricity, Hothouse, and Orange Magazine, to name a few.

Since graduating from the Michener Center, I’ve remained on campus to further cultivate community for writers and readers across UT, as the program coordinator for the Joynes Reading Room in Carothers Hall. The Joynes Reading Room was established twenty years ago after an unexpected request by the Plan II alumna Dr. Mary Lu Joynes. Today the Joynes Reading Room is a unique classroom, study, and gathering space on the ground floor of Carothers Dormitory operated by the Plan II Honors Program in collaboration with University Housing & Dining. Throughout the years, the reading series at Joynes has hosted such visiting luminaries as Natalie Diaz, Terrence Hayes, Eula Biss, and Ada Limón in unique low-key surroundings that encourage conversation with the audience. It’s a special and unsung part of literary culture at UT that I’m proud to facilitate for the student body and the wider Austin community since all events at Joynes are free and open to the public.

This semester, the Joynes Reading Room is eager to host three writers from across the globe. On Sept. 25 at 6 p.m., UT alum and journalist Ada Calhoun will discuss her most recent book, Also a Poet: Frank O’Hara, My Father, and Me. In partnership with the Department of French & Italian, Joynes will host the French author Line Papin on Oct. 5, whose novel The Girl Before Her was just translated into English by Ink & Blood, a joint imprint of Kaya Press and the Diasporic Vietnamese Artist Network. And on Nov. 30, in partnership with the Rapoport Center, the Warfield Center, and the Michener Center, Fatin Abbas will read in Joynes, the author of Ghost Season, a beautiful novel that unfolds amid conflict on the Sudanese border. By bringing acclaimed authors directly into the dormitories where students live, these readings provide an informal setting for students to hear from, and converse with, some of the leading lights of the literary world. In the past, students have made connections with visiting authors that have led to networking calls, informal interviews, and more.

The Joynes Reading Room, to me, demonstrates what Plan II stands for. It’s a place where students and community members can come together to listen, ask questions, and exchange ideas with some of the top minds at work in literature, art, and journalism. I mean it when I say that the readings and small-group discussions I’ve attended with visiting writers at Joynes are some of the most memorable experiences I’ve had at UT. The casual setting facilitates the feeling that these authors are your peers. Because they are. That’s the powerful knowledge that being a Longhorn gave me: that I’m a writer, part of a community of people following the same treacherous path. It’s knowledge I hope to share in my role at Joynes with Plan II.

Schlosberg is the Senior Administrative Program Coordinator for the Joynes Reading Room.