Anny Wang ’26, Kashvi Ramani ’24, Sophia Tung ’25, and Natalia Salinas ’24 present at the opening “The Pariah” party.
Inside the Timken Room, Head of “The Pariah” Kashvi Ramani ’24 recited poetry, as rain softly tapped against the windows and candles illuminated the room. Eliza Francis ’26, who also shared her work during last Friday’s Spring Issue Launch Party for “The Pariah,” described the highlights of the event.
“Jaylen did [an] improv comedy about narcissism which was pretty funny. Michela serenaded us with piano before the performance. Ethan Liu ’26 performed his poem with a piano and did both simultaneously and it was incredible to see how two different art mediums can live in cohesion and create such a beautiful all-encompassing piece of work,” said Francis.
To celebrate the most recent issue of “The Pariah”, i.e. the Spring 2023 issue, the club decided to host this party and offer the contributors opportunities to read excerpts from their work. Board members also hoped to attract new writers by incorporating an open mic. Francis discussed how the launch party reflected the values of the club.
‘I [think] the event was just a great representation of everything that “The Pariah” can be, which is an inclusive space for any writer invested in what others have to say and what they have to say. It’s a space where I feel very comfortable to share my work and I think others felt that way too…In terms of editing, I love to see how [my] starting piece[s]…turned into beautiful, beautiful poems. It was nice to see the development over time,” said Francis.
Another contributor Jaylen Daley ’25 read his work “This Love With My Double,” a piece conveying the interplay between his insecurities and self-acceptance. During the writing process, he enjoys adding “experimental” elements and playing around with the overarching shapes of his pieces.
“It was really funny because the atmosphere in the room was very upbeat and nice and welcoming, but a lot of the poetry was darker. So it kind of made me think about how I should bring more positive poetry to the campus,” said Daley.
In addition to seeing returning members, Ramani mentioned that she was excited to see new faces as well. For example, she loved hearing Juniors present their creative work during the open mic portion of the launch party. “The Pariah” technology manager Anny Wang ’26 talked about what she hoped participants took away from the launch party.
“I hope that they believe that writing can be in any form because we not only had music in there, we had poems, we had prose, and even comedy shows and speeches. I wish that people could write more because…I [feel] like I…connected spiritually with these people through their writing, through how they deliver it, through their speech,” said Wang.
Overall, emphasizing accessibility, Francis described the club as a “stepping stone” for people who are new to writing and want to publish their work. Moving forward, Ramani mentioned some of the club’s plans for the 2023-2024 school year.
“We are having identity-based anthologies…most recently…a queer anthology to celebrate queer writers in the school, and that’s going to be on our website. We are also going to be having a school movie night in partnership with the PA Food Society so [there is] going to be a lot of good food, possibly Gati…Then of course, we have our winter issue that’s going to be launched [next term],” said Ramani.
