Two literary journals have published fiction by Hobart and William Smith student Hazel Brown, with two more short stories and two poems accepted for future publication.
Brown, a member of the Class of 2028, connected with editors at Pangyrus and Gulf Stream Magazine while attending the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference with Seneca Review, according to Hobart and William Smith.
Those conversations encouraged her to submit her work. Brown said the experience taught her to understand what each journal publishes and send work that fits its particular interests.
Two stories take different forms
“Years Before the Divorce When My Children Were Young” follows a mother whose husband is undergoing cancer treatment as the couple talks with their children about illness and mortality. Brown wrote it as an exercise in keeping a story grounded within a single scene.
“Ingrid” takes a shorter, more experimental approach. A conversation between a young child and her mother explores motherhood, loss and memory. It is part of a larger novella Brown is writing.
Her additional acceptances include two short stories and two poems across Catamaran, New Contrast, Lines + Stars and Bear Review.
Workshops and faculty shape the writing
Brown credits faculty mentors and campus writing opportunities with helping her develop her fiction, including the Trias Writer-in-Residence Workshop with New York Times bestselling author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah.
The Trias residency selects 12 students from across campus to participate in a workshop and work directly with that year's resident writer.
“Nana treated my classmates and me as serious writers,” Brown said. “Rather than try to see how my stories fit against a set mold or set of fiction principles, Nana commented on the work within the bounds of the work itself.”
Brown also worked on campus as a Summer Scholarship Fellow. She credited English and creative writing faculty members Geoffrey Babbitt and Kathryn Cowles with helping her better understand how publication relates to the writing process.
“Sometimes your work is much more ‘done’ to others than it appears to be to you,” Brown recalled Cowles telling her. That advice encouraged her to see publication as part of an ongoing creative process rather than wait for perfection.
A writing community beyond the classroom
Alongside formal workshops and opportunities through Thel, HWS' student literary journal, Brown and friends regularly share and discuss new work.
“This past year, I would have a near weekly workshop with my dear friends Laura and Andrew,” she said. “We'd just sit on the carpet of one of our bedrooms and share a piece we had each written.”
Brown continues submitting to literary journals while developing larger projects, including a manuscript she hopes to publish.
“My lifelong dream is to get a book of mine published,” she said. “Writing novels will always be what I love the most.”
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