As National Poetry Month comes to a close, we wanted to share one final poem. “City Slicker’s Spring Fever” was written exactly 82 years ago this month, and featured in the student newspaper, The Nor’easter. At the time, the school’s campus was located in the YMCA in downtown Springfield, so it’s easy to see how the writer was inspired by the contrast of the beauty of spring, and the ofttimes difficulty of city living.

The poem is a wonderful reminder to find beauty in everything, and to continue to search for inspiration even in the hardest of times. Hopefully you all can find some inspiration on this beautiful spring day!

We are living through an unprecedented moment in history. Future generations of the Western New England community will want to understand what life was like living through a global pandemic. Your experience is important. Your feelings, actions, and reactions during this time are significant to history. The Western New England University Archives wants to hear your stories.

Are you creating art, writing stories, journaling, composing music, taking photographs? Please consider donating your work to the University Archives to be preserved for generations to come so that all can look back and learn from your current experiences.

Please contact Tracey Kry at theresa.kry@wne.edu for information about donating your work.

With National Poetry Month just about half over, it’s time to share another poem! This one, according to The Westerner, just showed up in the newspaper’s mailbox, and was not written by a student, faculty, or staff member. The mysterious prose was apparently penned by the spirit of the Golden Bear. The ghostly creature watches over the students from the “special class” (presumably the graduating class of that year) as they make their way through various parts of campus, and college life.

The poem is a fun look at life at Western New England in the 1970s. If any readers out there can claim ownership of this poem, please let us know!

Many colleges and universities provide a showcase of their students’ creative works. Literary magazines, published by students, with student work, usually feature poetry, short stories, and pieces of art. Here at Western New England University, we’ve been proudly publishing student work since 1970.

The oldest copy of Intrinsia, the first literary magazine published by students at Western New England, dates back to 1970. However, because of the current circumstances, we aren’t able to get into the archives right now to check if it actually was the first! It is simply the earliest one listed in our inventory. If any readers out there know, let us know!

Advertisement to submit to Intrinsia, from The Westerner, 1974

The last issue of Intrinsia was published in 1984. Between 1984 and 1987, students attempted reviving the magazine, but it didn’t stick until 1988, when the revamped literary magazine, The Review of Art and Literature, debuted. The magazine is still published today.

The arrival of The Review of Art and Literature, from The Westerner, November 1987

The Review of Art and Literature is such an important part of the campus community. It preserves the creative voices of our students, and shows readers the importance of creative pursuits. So next time you’re taking a photograph, writing a story, or composing a poem, consider submitting it to The Review of Art and Literature, and let the Western New England University community enjoy and appreciate your work for years to come!

It’s no wonder April is National Poetry Month. It’s hard not the be inspired to write in verse when the ground thaws, the sun gets a little stronger, and the world come to life with color.

Throughout the month we’ll be looking for poetry in the archives and sharing it here. Today we’re going to start with a class poem written by a member of the graduating class of 1943. The poem appeared in The Nor’Easter, the student newspaper at the time, in May of that year.

Although times are tough right now, and members of the class of 2020 are experiencing a very different final semester than they ever imagined, let’s all remember the wonderful times spent together on the Western New England campus, and know we’ll be back soon! And if you’re having a particularly tough day, take heed of the closing of this poem – “…continue with your learning – follow, if you cannot lead – forward on life’s journey – and I’m sure you will succeed.” You got this!