On My Nightstand By Sarah Creech
Remember When Oktoberfest at Queens in 1988
Ah, summertime — I live for summer. I can place the textbooks I assigned for the year on the shelf and feel proud of the student work I read as a mentor. I read intensively year-round, but for three precious months, I have the chance to curate my own summer reading list just like I did as a kid back when there were incentives for summer reading like candy or teacher recognition. And though I prize reading for the alone time it affords, my reading incentive as an adult oſten comes from the chance to discuss books with friends. On my nightstand, you will find my book club’s summer 2023
reading selections. We plan to kick off with “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus. Barnes and Noble named this debut novel their Book of the Year, and I’m eager to hear what my book club thinks about the strong main character’s struggles with inequality in the male dominated chemistry field of the 1960s. The science theme will continue with “The Exceptions: Nancy
Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science” by Kate Zernike, recommended to me by beloved Queens Professor Emeritus Kent Rhodes. I loved the novel “The Great Believers” about the AIDS epidemic, so I’m excited we picked Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist Rebecca Makkai’s new novel “I Have Some Questions for You.” And though my book club tends to read novels, I’m thrilled that we chose U.S. Poet Laureate and Queens MFA faculty member Ada Limón’s newest book “The Hurting Kind.” Here’s to a thought-provoking summer and the radical act of
reading together.
Sarah Creech is an associate professor and chair of the English and Creative Writing Department at Queens. She is the author of two novels, “Season of the Dragonflies” and “The Whole Way Home.” Her short fiction and essays have appeared in various publications, including The Cortland Review,
WritersDigest.com, StorySouth and Literary Mama. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and children.
Photo courtesy of Everet Library, Queens University Archives
For over 160 years, Queens has been a campus for academic growth while also offering students opportunities outside of the classroom, including several long- standing traditions. The Moravian Love Feast brings the
Queens community together in Belk Chapel each December to share in traditional Moravian fare, a candle lighting ceremony and carols. The Boar's Head Dinner brings together all students to hear the Boar's Head story along with a performance by the Choir to enrich the evening. One of Queens’ largest events on campus, Casino Night, allows students to dress up in formal atire while enjoying music, food and dancing all while trying their luck with casino games. Germany’s Oktoberfest brings millions
of people together over a two-week period to eat, drink and be merry. The Queens version of Oktoberfest took place in front of the Dorm Quad with sausages, sauerkraut and lots of fun. In this photo from 1988, you can see a student and member of a local band folk dancing. While Oktoberfest is no longer a part of
campus life at Queens, students have countless other opportunities for personal, intellectual, and social development through clubs, student government, athletics and Greek life.
— Charmain Lewis ’98 SUMMER 2023 3
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