Middlebury Magazine

  • Recent Stories
  • Menu
    • Features
    • Pursuits
    • Q&A
    • Podcasts
    • Review
    • Essays
    • Old Chapel
    • Videos
    • How Did You Get Here Series
    • About
    • Advertising
    • Contact
    • Support
    • Writers’ Guidelines
  • Search

Review

Editors’ Picks for May and June

By Middlebury Magazine Staff
May 21, 2021
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • Email icon

THE RINEHART FRAMES

Cheswayo Mphanza

In his intriguing debut book of poems, Zambian American poet Cheswayo Mphanza ’16 attempts to link the Black diasporic community by way of ekphrasis through the juxtaposition of Ralph Ellison’s character Rinehart in Invisible Man and Abbas Kiarostami’s posthumous last film, 24 Frames. The Rinehart Frames, which won the Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets, weaves through the mental images created by visual art, film, and literature to observe and absorb the experience of Blackness throughout humanity’s disturbing past and present. It intersects various histories spanning artists, scholars, and writers from Japan, India, Zambia, Senegal, the DRC, and different islands of the Caribbean. Mphanza writes, “Essentially, the book is concerned with the ontological and epistemological frameworks in which Blackness is seen or not seen.” His inventive and profound poems achieve his ends brilliantly.

WHY WE COOK

Lindsay Gardner

In Why We Cook: Women on Food, Identity, and Connection, artist and first-time author Lindsay Gardner Hine ’03 brings together stories, essays, kitchen profiles, interviews, and more, featuring 112 women restaurateurs, food producers, activists, writers, professional chefs, and home cooks—all of whom are dedicated not only to their craft, but to changing the world of food. Like many well-researched books, this one began with the author’s questions, such as why is cooking inspirational and nourishing, especially to those who identify as women? Determined to hear the stories of the women shaping the culinary world of today, she started interviewing women chefs, food writers, and others and has put together their inspiring words with her beautiful art in a celebration of women’s culinary contributions and achievements. Not only does she reveal the power of food to produce unity but also to further justice and equity.

LOST ONE STANDING

Hector Hill

Hector Hill ’91 has published his first young adult novel and it’s a thriller. Introducing his main character, Cade Dixon, age 17, Hill puts him in the middle of a hostage situation in a fancy New England prep school and sets him up as the reluctant hero who has the knowledge needed to combat the criminals who have taken over the school. With a love for physics, chemistry, psychology, mixed martial arts, and literature, Cade uses these resources to begin to fight the hostage situation. He’s joined by Kira, who he has a crush on, and their budding relationship lends moments of humor and sweetness to the otherwise fast-paced, nonstop action. With crisp, clear writing that works well to reflect the terse circumstances, Hill has created a page-turning novel that teens and adults alike will enjoy, as well as memorable characters that readers will be happy to follow in the upcoming series.

THE TREE IN ME

Corinna Luyken

Once again, Corinna Luyken ’00 has produced a beautifully illustrated, thought-provoking picture book for young readers. The author of the popular My Heart and The Book of Mistakes, Luyken finds themes that resonate with her audience and couches them in simple language and exquisite art. In The Tree in Me, she likens all that is good about trees and nature with all that is possible within a child and shows children that they can be strong and flexible and connected to others. The natural affinity young people have for nature makes this idea relevant and easily assimilated. While the language is spare and rhythmic, the illustrations are full of the energy and playfulness of children and exude a joyfulness that will be caught up by the young readers who dive into the story.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Recent Stories

Features

More Than a Game

In a critically acclaimed work of nonfiction, Abe Streep '04 introduces readers to the Arlee Warriors, a high school basketball team on a Native American reservation in Montana, where life's challenges are abundant.

By Alexander Wolff
Photograph by Devin Yalkin
October 21, 2022

Munya Munyati Has A Few Stories to Tell

Catching up with a young filmmaker who is rapidly making a name for himself at Vice.

By Mara Dolan
Film stills by Munya Munyati
September 16, 2022

Reverberations

A transcontinental move, a career discovered, a landmark speech studied and translated—and an identity reshaped.

By Clara Clymer, MA Translation '22
Illustration by Anna Gusella
April 2, 2022

The Road(s)

A little over a year ago, a writing student headed south to Florida for no other reason than J-Term was forced to go remote. She soon found herself reporting on an environmental justice battle that was roiling the state.

By Alexandra Burns '21.5
Illustrations by Yevgenia Nayberg
March 2, 2022

Dispatches

Japan Wants to Dump Water from a Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean

Middlebury's Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress thinks that's a terrible idea.

By Sierra Abukins
August 11, 2023

When Mini Golf Meets Reproductive Justice

A summertime staple becomes a first-of-its-kind teaching tool.

By Jessie Raymond '90
Photographs by Todd Balfour
June 30, 2023

Welcome to All Things Scottish

Toward the end of the academic year, a group of Midd students turned Battell Beach into a setting that more closely resembled a Scottish moor.

By Caroline Crawford
Photograph by Brian MacDonald
June 30, 2023

Let’s Dance

How can one's digital experiences be interpreted through performance art? Choreographer Maia Sauer ’22 and a troupe of recent Midd grads attempt to find out.

By Alexandra Jhamb Burns '21.5
Photographs by Alexis Welch '22
June 2, 2023

The Repatriation

The Leopard Head Hip Ornament returns to Africa.

By Jessie Raymond '90
Courtesy Middlebury Museum of Art
February 16, 2023

Adventures in Filmmaking

Two professors and an alum have embarked on a journey to take a screenplay from its creation to the end product of a full-length feature film.

By Sara Thurber Marshall
Still Photograph from The Swim Lesson Proof of Concept
February 14, 2023

A Night Out

For one evening in December, Atwater dining hall hosted a student-dining experience unlike any other.

By Caroline Crawford
Photographs by Paul Dahm
January 20, 2023

Finding His Way

What happens when your identity is stolen—not by another person but by your own body?

By Sara Thurber Marshall
December 15, 2022

A Natural Selection

For more than a quarter century, Stephen Trombulak— now an emeritus professor of biology and environmental studies—guided students in avian research on a parcel of College land hard by Otter Creek. This preserved area now bears his name.

By Jessie Raymond '90
Photography by Paul Dahm
November 18, 2022
View All

Pursuits

Public Defender

On becoming one of the country's foremost cybersecurity experts.

By Jessie Raymond '90
Illustration by Neil Webb
April 14, 2022

Q&A

The Making of a Teacher

Hebrew Professor Michal Strier reflects on her life an education—in Israel and the States—a journey that led the Language School instructor to the undergraduate College for the first time this year.

By Jessie Raymond '90
Photograph by Paul Dahm
May 19, 2022

Editor’s Note

A Brilliant Fogg

Saying goodbye to a dear colleague and friend.

By Matt Jennings
Illustration by Jody Hewgill
February 25, 2020

Old Chapel

Making Democracy Real

An Update on Our Conflict Transformation Initiative

By Laurie L. Patton
Illustration by Montse Bernal
January 20, 2023

Road Taken

What to Wear Now

Through accrued life experiences, a writer discovers that a common question has become a statement of identity.

By Samantha Hubbard Shanley ’99
Illustration by Naomi Clarke
March 11, 2021

Quotation

A summer immersed in a language can do wonders, as veterans of Middlebury College’s famous language-learning program can attest. The lockdown is clearly going to amount to the equivalent of about two summers, and there are mini-Middleburys happening in millions of houses worldwide.”

—John McWhorter, writing “The Coronavirus Generation Will Use Language Differently” in the Atlantic.

Podcasts

Old Stories Being Told Differently, Part 1, featuring Carolyn Finney

Our guest for episode three of season three is Carolyn Finney, who is a storyteller, author, cultural geographer, and self-described “accidental environmentalist” whose work explores the intersection of identity, privilege, and our natural surroundings. In part one of this two-part interview, Carolyn joins host and president of Middlebury, Laurie Patton, to discuss how her upbringing and family history in Westchester County, New York became the foundation of her life’s work.

By Middlebury Magazine Staff
September 18, 2023

Every Book You Write Is a Mystery, feat. Rebecca Makkai, MA English ’04

Our guest for episode two of season three is Rebecca Makkai, MA English '04, a critically acclaimed novelist and short story writer. She joins Laurie Patton to discuss her teaching career, overcoming writer's block, her time at Bread Loaf, dabbling in other genres or mediums for inspiration, and her deep personal roots to Vermont.

By Middlebury Magazine Staff
May 30, 2023

The Virus Hunter, feat. Anne Rimoin ’92

Our guest for episode one of season three of this podcast is an epidemiologist who is an internationally recognized expert on global health, disease surveillance, and immunization. Anne Rimoin '92 joins Laurie Patton to discuss what it takes to be on the front lines as an emerging infectious disease researcher.

By Middlebury Magazine Staff
April 17, 2023

Review

Editors’ Picks for July and August

By Middlebury Magazine Staff
August 11, 2023

How Did You Get Here?

Megan Job

By Alexandra Burns '21
February 15, 2021

Leif Taranta

By Alexandra Burns '21
February 15, 2021

Mikayla Haefele

By Alexandra Burns '21
February 15, 2021

Videos

Creating Community Through Hip Hop

For three days in March, the sounds, styles, and fashions of global hip hop converged on Middlebury for an electric symposium.

By Jordan Saint-Louis '24
April 17, 2023

Pomp and Unusual Circumstances

As viewed from above.

By Chris Spencer
June 1, 2021

Davis the Owl Returns Home

Having recovered from life-threatening injuries, a beautiful winged creature is released to its natural habitat.

By Andrew Cassell
April 22, 2021
Middlebury College
  • Alumni
  • Newsroom
  • Contact Us
  • icon-instagram

The views presented are not necessarily those of the editors or the official policies of the College.

© 2023 Middlebury College Publications.