Academy Hosts 2023-2024 George Bennett Fellow: Emma Zimmerman
By AMY LIN, MAX MANTEL and ROXANE PARK
“This essay is called Impermanence.”
The Assembly Hall fell silent enough to hear the drop of a pin, students and teachers alike eager to immerse themselves in the speaker’s story. The tale that would follow was a captivating account of her experience with Long COVID that weaves her relationship with her grandmother, mortality, and mariposa into a striking comparison between illness and age.
This speaker, who possesses such an impressive command of anaphora and allegory, poetic syntax, and her own unique voice, is Emma Zimmerman: writer, journalist, and the 2023 recipient of the Academy’s George Bennett Fellowship.
The George Bennett Fellowship, endowed by alumnus Elias B. M. Kulukundis ‘55, is presented to a promising, unpublished author and provides them with a one-year opportunity to live in Exeter as the Writer in Residence. According to the official description, “the purpose of the George Bennett Fellowship is to provide time and freedom from material considerations to a person seriously contemplating or pursuing a career as a writer.” Having been launched in 1968, past recipients include Debra Allbery, A. Manette Ansay, Gina Apostol, Vasugi Ganeshananthan, and Ilya Kaminsky.
When asked about her passion for writing, Zimmerman expressed her opinion on the strength of writing. “When I found creative nonfiction in college, I discovered such power in looking at the complex world, and then translating all these complex emotions to the page in a way that’s compelling to a reader,” she shared. “I think that when you’re writing, it forces your brain to slow down and put different pieces together. Writing — not only words, but rhythms and descriptions, and the way you sew those words together – is a powerful mechanism of expression.”
Zimmerman explained how she selected Exeter and the fellowship as a space for her to work on her craft. “I was looking for different fellowships and teaching opportunities after graduating [with an MFA from NYU], and Exeter was one that was on my radar,” she explained. “It kept popping up in searches and it seemed like a very dreamy opportunity to have the chance to write. At the time I was working on my master’s thesis and hoping to turn it into a book,”
To Zimmerman, the opportunity presented by the fellowship was obvious: “It is every writer’s dream to have a year to just write a book.”
The unique environment and community of Exeter have been a crucial part in helping Zimmerman’s process thus far. “The students are so friendly and intelligent,” she said. “I’m impressed by the students of course, but also by the faculty—how much they do, how engaged they are in their teaching, and what different experiences they bring to the classroom. It’s definitely a special place. This environment has been lovely, and so has the access to trails here. I think the flexibility of this fellowship has been an incredible asset to my work.”
In addition to her personal creative writing, Zimmerman has served as a journalist exploring the intersection between social justice and sports, in particular women’s trail running, regularly printing pieces in publications like Trail Runner, Outside, Women’s Running, Tracksmith Journal, Runner’s World, and Taproot Magazine.
Unsurprisingly, many students were stunned by Zimmerman’s reading of Impermanence.“What I remember from Ms. Zimmerman’s assembly is her imagery and poetic writing style,” said senior and co-head of the on-campus literary magazine Pendulum Hope Gantt. “I appreciated her presentation because her voice and intonation made the piece engaging.”
As a writer herself, Gantt hopes to take advantage of Zimmerman’s office hours from 9:50 to 10:40 a.m. every Thursday at her office in the library. “Especially during senior season, when I’m writing a lot of personal essays, it’s valuable to get another perspective,” she said. “The goal of any essay is to communicate, so you want anyone who reads it, no matter their background or prior knowledge about you, to be able to understand more about who you are.”
Likewise, faculty have been impressed and excited about Zimmerman’s presence on campus. “I love her energy,” Instructor in English Katie Brule said. She has been able to form a close relationship with Zimmerman as fellow young faculty members, dog-lovers, and runners. “I think that kind of energy can have a positive impact on students in general. She’s so curious, which feels like an important word and mindset for our campus this year, and that curiosity spreads. Regarding her writing, I think her consideration of how we interact with the outdoors feels important in getting our community to look more closely at the spaces we’re in.”
“I think it’s really cool and rare for a high school to have a program like this, where a wonderful visiting writer early in their career comes and is in residence. It’s a gift for the writer to be able to have that time, but it’s also, I think, a gift for the community. It’s very special to have her presence on campus, and I think it’s neat to have a creative nonfiction writer as well, because we haven’t in the last couple of years, and given that so much of our English curriculum is rooted in creative nonfiction,” Instructor in English Chelsea Woodard continued, “She mentioned that she had several students come to her office hours to read everything from college essays to pieces that they were working on personally. So, I think it’s really positive that students are already seeking her out. She’s very friendly and approachable. I think that she has already had a positive impact on the community, and that she will continue to do that.”
“I hope that she gets to bring what feels authentic for her to bring to the community. I think it’s different for each Bennett fellow. I hope for her as a writer that the time is fruitful––it’s such a gift to have a year to write without other obligations and to have access to students, colleagues, books, and space. So, I hope it’s a creatively productive time for her,” Woodard added.
“It was the strength of her manuscript. The topic and her approach were compelling,” Woodard, an instructor on the selection committee for fellowship, reflected on what stood out to her from Zimmerman’s application.
As a writer experienced in storytelling, Zimmerman is eager to share her insights and advice on the art of creative writing and the many genres she has mastered: fiction, creative nonfiction, and journalism.
“Don’t get too bogged down by where you’re going with writing or what exactly you’re writing about. If there’s something that you feel [is] important to write about, or even if it’s not important [but] you’re drawn to it, go with it. Explore different forms of writing. I think many writers give this line of advice to younger writers, but if you have a story that you want to tell, just write it. Get it on paper. Try as hard as you can to not get too wrapped up in the little details of writing,” she advised.
Reflecting upon the impact she intends to leave on the students at the Academy, Zimmerman said, “I hope to continue having conversations with students about creative nonfiction and the power that they might be able to find in it, and I hope to continue learning from all the students here, because whenever I have a conversation with students, I’m really impressed by everything they’re thinking about in their own work and lives and how engaged they are with the outside world. I very much feel like there’s a give and take and I’m getting a lot from the students here, but I do hope to give back to them as well.”
More specifically, she elaborated on the ways that she would like to accomplish this during the remainder of her time at the Academy. “I don’t pretend to believe that I have anything extra special to give to you students,” Zimmerman said. “You all have so many gifts of your own and you’re all such talented people. But I do hope that I can help some people view their writing in different ways [and] find the power that lies in their own stories, or in the stories that obsess them.”
Emma Zimmerman poses for a photo Courtesy of Grounded Podcast
