Introducing a new board and an open mic opportunity for attendees, The Pariah hosted their Winter Issue Launch Party this past Friday. As a triannual literary magazine, The Pariah accepts creative writing of all kinds — allowing students to publish anonymously and host writing events. Along with the digital issue, the Pariah hosted an in-person launch party to provide the writers with an opportunity to share their work with others. Board member Bailey Xu ’26 commented on the success of the event.
“It’s just really nice to see how everyone is supportive of each other’s writing because it can be a vulnerable thing to share your writing in front of a small audience. So, the open mic is my favorite part… We could have done more to up the atmosphere and add more decorations just to make it feel more like a cozy space. But it was wonderful, it was great. One piece was accompanied by Ethan Liu [’26] on the piano, so that was really cool,” said Xu.
This creative writing community on campus gathered to share their readings aloud and bring their pieces to life. Board member Nafi Diagne ’26 highlighted how hearing the readings in person from the writers made it extra memorable and impactful.
“The launch party went pretty well. There was a pretty good turnout. There definitely could have been more people, but generally, the people who committed to it and submitted for the issue came. I thought that the readings were really good. I think there’s definitely another dimension added to people’s poetry and writing when it’s spoken aloud at the pace they want it to be and however quiet or loud they want it to be,” said Diagne.
Although the party was a success for the club, with an engaged audience, food, and refreshments, Anny Wang ’26 noted some logistical challenges that came with organizing such an event, emphasizing the effort that it took to coordinate everything.
“The preparation process was a little bit challenging because it was hard to communicate with the school with booking the place because there were a lot of places that were booked. The schedule was very full, and we kind of went back and forth on email. Then it took a long time for them to reply, but eventually, it worked out,” said Wang.
Emphasizing the importance of a low-stakes environment in order to allow for easy sharing of vulnerable pieces, Wang also emphasized the club’s goal to connect the campus community and foster empathy and understanding.
“As a literary magazine, our mission is to create a safer space on campus for people to share their experiences, either recognized or anonymously, so that people can know that they’re not alone in whatever difficulties they’re going through. Writing has the power to be empathetic and connected,” said Wang.
For the future, The Pariah hopes to continue being a safe space for groups of people to share their own unique experiences and invite more writers to share their creative pieces. Emphasizing inclusivity and diversity, the club is eager to broaden the range of voices and stories represented from all across campus.
“We also maybe would have wanted to have more pieces shared as well, just to expand the scope of the event in the near future. So, you guys should be looking out for — We’re running two anthologies. We’re running a queer anthology, and we’re also running an Asian identity anthology. The deadlines will be in May, so you guys should sign up for that. Those are really low-commitment pieces,” said Xu.
