September 2023 – Princeton Writes

Staff Essay Contest Winners Capture Life’s Joys

admin2023-09-28T16:32:33-04:00

Staff Essay Contest Winners Capture Life’s Joys Princeton Writes Program Director John Weeren with essay contest winners. From left to right: John Weeren, Colton Poore, Robyn Howard, Dianne Spatafore, and Derek Ziegler. Photo by David Kelly Crow. Written by Adrianne Da Ponte, Advancement Aug. 15, 2023 Four Princeton staff members have been honored for their writing in the ninth annual Princeton Writes essay contest. The 2022-2023 contest, which invited participants to share how they cultivate joy in their lives, inspired submissions from 55 staff members representing 43 academic and administrative units. An essay by Colton Poore, a communications [...]

Staff Essay Contest Winners Capture Life’s Joysadmin2023-09-28T16:32:33-04:00

Saying “No”

John Weeren2023-10-03T16:10:36-04:00

Saying "No" By John Weeren For many on our campus and beyond there is nothing easy about saying “no,” a word that can sometimes end a conversation, fracture a friendship, or raise a ruckus. To quote the writer Kristin Wong, “Humans are social animals who thrive on reciprocity. It’s in our nature to be socially obliging, and the word no feels like a confrontation that threatens a potential bond.” Unfortunately, saying “no” is often inescapable, thanks to a host of intangible and practical considerations that preclude a positive response. Nothing, however, prevents us from conveying this monosyllable in a way that [...]

Saying “No”John Weeren2023-10-03T16:10:36-04:00

Word of the Week: misanthrope (MĬS-ən-thrōp)

Stephanie Whetstone2023-09-11T12:22:58-04:00

Word of the Week: misanthrope (MĬS-ən-thrōp) Definition (Noun) A hater of mankind; a person who distrusts and avoids other people. In Context "To be introduced to Jennings and not be taken with his affability, his earnest good nature, you would have to be a misanthrope." Mark Singer, Funny Money, 1985.

Word of the Week: misanthrope (MĬS-ən-thrōp)Stephanie Whetstone2023-09-11T12:22:58-04:00

A Poem for You: —From “Rainier” by Kris Johnson

admin2023-09-11T12:28:22-04:00

—From "Rainier" by Kris Johnson I am in love with this mountain that all summer long threatens to killmy father. Swallow him in the pale blue Emmons, crush him beneath an avalancheor send him sliding down the Kautz - his crampons falling on pre-dawn ice. This mountain I love will one day knock on the door of my mother's home, unearth the graves of my relatives and carry hyacinths and coffins down the Duwamish, out into the Sound.

A Poem for You: —From “Rainier” by Kris Johnsonadmin2023-09-11T12:28:22-04:00

Word of the Week: polymath (PŎL-ē-măth)

Stephanie Whetstone2023-09-11T12:18:50-04:00

Word of the Week: polymath (PŎL-ē-măth) Definition (Noun) A person of great or varied learning; a person acquainted with many fields of study; an accomplished scholar. In Context "Possibly the last true polymath, von Neumann made a brilliant career – half a dozen brilliant careers – by plunging fearlessly and frequently into any area where highly abstract mathematical thought could provide fresh insights." Sylvia Nasar, A Beautiful Mind: A Biography of John Forbes Nash, Jr., Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, 1994, 1998.

Word of the Week: polymath (PŎL-ē-măth)Stephanie Whetstone2023-09-11T12:18:50-04:00

A Poem for You: A Moving Grove by Iryna Shuvalova

admin2023-09-11T12:16:46-04:00

a moving grove Iryna Shuvalova Translated from the Ukrainian by Uilleam Blacker go escape while you can go escape buy tickets for the last water train which as it subsides reveals curbs pavements the riverside the anatomy of the sinewy city that lies naked and unfamiliar like a man in your bed go—escape while you can take all your belongings everything that’s yours split lips cut knees the cracked jar of a head from which memory slowly seeps and all you can leave just leave behind the evening lights in the windows the beloved exposed throat of the sky the [...]

A Poem for You: A Moving Grove by Iryna Shuvalovaadmin2023-09-11T12:16:46-04:00

A Poem for You: September Tomatoes BY KARINA BOROWICZ

admin2023-05-08T15:01:37-04:00

September Tomatoes BY KARINA BOROWICZ The whiskey stink of rot has settled in the garden, and a burst of fruit flies rises when I touch the dying tomato plants. Still, the claws of tiny yellow blossoms flail in the air as I pull the vines up by the roots and toss them in the compost. It feels cruel. Something in me isn’t ready to let go of summer so easily. To destroy what I’ve carefully cultivated all these months. Those pale flowers might still have time to fruit. My great-grandmother sang with the girls of her village as they pulled the flax. [...]

A Poem for You: September Tomatoes BY KARINA BOROWICZadmin2023-05-08T15:01:37-04:00

Word of the Week: tonsorial (tahn-SOR-ee-ul)

Stephanie Whetstone2023-05-08T11:24:05-04:00

Word of the Week: tonsorial (tahn-SOR-ee-ul) Definition Of or relating to a barber or the work of a barber In Context "Once again Ryan's Barber Shop and Shaving Parlor … provided the tonsorial team the chairs and the needed supplies for the men to sit down and get their faces cleaned up or hair trimmed." Steve Moran, The Asbury Park (New Jersey) Press, 6 Dec. 2018

Word of the Week: tonsorial (tahn-SOR-ee-ul)Stephanie Whetstone2023-05-08T11:24:05-04:00

A Poem for You: Diagnosis BY MEENA ALEXANDER

admin2023-05-08T14:49:47-04:00

Diagnosis BY MEENA ALEXANDER So how will it end? You want it straight? He looked me in the eye: You will lose weight, Become more and more tired. This kind will not enter your bones or brain. I stared at him, ravished. Could not pluck my eyes from his old man face. — Later the cuneiform earth Skimmed in snow Inviolate bones Torn ligament of language. A skeletal beauty Stars still uncover. — Come dawn a young doctor In reddening shirt sleeves, His voice quick, prickly undersong— No grandeur here, Just breath assuaging its own battery. Flash of sempiternal spring? A [...]

A Poem for You: Diagnosis BY MEENA ALEXANDERadmin2023-05-08T14:49:47-04:00

Word of the Week: synecdoche (sĭ-NĔK-də-kē)

Stephanie Whetstone2023-05-03T10:46:20-04:00

Word of the Week: synecdoche (sĭ-NĔK-də-kē) Definition (Noun) A figure of speech in which a more inclusive term is used for a less inclusive one or vice versa, as a whole for a part or a part for a whole. In Context "But if the convention didn't tell, it definitely showed: It was less an advertisement for Donald Trump than a perfect synecdoche for his entire ascent, with every element of the Trump phenomenon distilled into four strange days of drama." Ross Douthat, "The Donald Trump Show," The New York Times, July 23, 2016.

Word of the Week: synecdoche (sĭ-NĔK-də-kē)Stephanie Whetstone2023-05-03T10:46:20-04:00

Contact Info