Pendulum Launch Party

Exonians gathered together in Phillips Church on Wednesday, March 20 for the unveiling of the seniors’ edition of Pendulum, Exeter’s literary and arts journal. The publication included an assortment of poems, short stories and photographs from members of the class of 2019.

Senior and poet Eugene Hu has submitted to Pendulum in the past and viewed this issue as a final opportunity to be published. “I pulled out this piece that I had written during upper year and then it actually ended up making it into the senior edition,” Hu said.

Photographer Arun Wongprommoon felt a similar way. “At first I was reluctant, but then I felt that I would want to at least be involved [in the publication] before the opportunity to participate disappears because I will be leaving Exeter,” he said.

For writer and senior Sarah Liberatore, it was the process of crafting her piece that compelled her to submit it to Pendulum. “Even though [my piece] was written technically for class, I felt like I had written it for myself … I was excited at the possibility of sharing that with other people,” she said. “I was really delighted that I was able to do that with Pendulum.”

Senior Kristen Richards’ writing process, however, focused around Pendulum’s prompt: “...therefore I am.” “Usually when I’m writing, I start with a phrase that comes into my head or very cool words,” she said. “However, it was different when writing for Pendulum.”

Richards had hoped to make the prompt the center of her piece. “For this poem in particular, I wrote it with the idea of ‘therefore I am,’ and I was trying to sculpt around that and around my own identity. The only way I could really define my identity at that time was through the natural world, so I thought about how I could weave that into a poem.”

Richards said that the release event at Phillips Church provided a different medium to express her works. “I've never read one of my poems out loud to people,” she said. “Most of the time, I just give it to them to read. I wanted to branch out and try something new [this time].”

Wongprommoon, however, felt apprehensive about sharing aspects of his identity to the magazine’s readers. “I don’t usually show my photos to anyone except my family,” he said. “This is a new audience, and I didn't know what to expect from it.”

On the other hand, the opportunity to share unknown aspects of his identity attracted Hu to Pendulum. “It's more about expressing vulnerability than anything else. I wanted to serve as a reminder that it's okay to feel weak at times,” he said. “The important thing is getting back up while you can.”

Hu was especially interested in the impact that poetry can have on the wider community. “Since I'm thinking about doing something related to writing perhaps in the future, I think that it is important for me to think about how to craft my work so that it is presentable to others,” he said. “Pendulum is a way for me to see whether I'm at that point where I can stop just writing for myself and start to do something for others.”

To Liberatore, writing is also a medium to articulate complex ideas. “It can be really hard to share what you're thinking and what you're feeling to other people. Writing is a way for me to work through those things on paper instead of just letting things float around in my head,” she said. “It's hard, but it can be really rewarding to just get that out on paper and go through the process of polishing my piece.”

Meanwhile, senior and Pendulum contributor Jadzia Tedeschi focused on the opportunity to listen to the different stories other seniors wrote. “I always liked reading my peers’ work and discovering interesting talents amongst our peers,” she said.

Senior and poet Sumit Chandra aspires to motivate others to explore unfamiliar subjects. “I never know what feelings I can evoke for specific members of my audience, but I think back to certain poets I have watched perform—they never could have known how much they had inspired me to begin writing,” he said. “Hopefully, through sharing stories from my life, I can reach other people with similar stories.”