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Kelly Writers House

From the page to the stage
students performing on stage

(Homepage image) Five students portray Dohhkin Rai, a tiger demon that convinces villain Dhona to sacrifice his own nephew in exchange for riches from the forest. “There’s a lot being said about the nature of lust and greed, about forgiveness, and about the bonds between parent and child, human and non-human, and the Earth and those who dwell on it,” Sethi says.

From the page to the stage

In collaboration with author Amitav Ghosh, musician Ali Sethi, and Penn’s Brooke O’Harra, 14 students brought to life a parable Ghosh wrote about the world’s largest mangrove forest, human greed, and the environment.

Michele W. Berger

Mentor support for the first-generation college experience
two people standing outside back to back smiling at camera

Senior Rachel Swym (left) was a summer intern with alumna Leanne Huebner at the educational nonprofit Minds Matter, and they have continued their connection ever since.

Mentor support for the first-generation college experience

Three decades apart, senior Rachel Swym and alumna Leanne Huebner found a common bond in their rural backgrounds and first-generation, highly aided college experience.
Alumni Award of Merit and Creative Spirit Awards honor seven alumni
Judith Bollinger, Al Filreis, Stephen Goff, Ghislain Gouraige, Mike Kowalski, Clemson Smith Muniz, Ashley Zampini Ritter, and John Vosmek.

Top row, left to right: Judith Bollinger, Al Filreis, Stephen Goff, and Ghislain Gouraige. Bottom row, left to right: Mike Kowalski, Clemson Smith Muniz, Ashley Zampini Ritter, and John Vosmek.

Alumni Award of Merit and Creative Spirit Awards honor seven alumni

Stephen Goff is awarded Creative Spirit Award and Al Filreis is to receive the Faculty Award of Merit.
Al Filreis dwells in possibility
Al Filreis standing in front of the Kelly Writers House

Al Filreis, an English professor at Penn since 1995, founded the Kelly Writers House on Locust Walk in 1995 and has since served as the faculty director.

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Al Filreis dwells in possibility

Celebrating poetry and literature at Penn since 1985, Al Filreis continues to create community at the home for writers he founded in a Locust Walk house a quarter-century ago.
Ilyse Reisman summer in the writers’ room
student standing outside with hill in the background

Senior Ilyse Reisman, an English and cinema studies major in the College of Arts and Sciences, was a summer intern at the film studio Indigenous Media in Los Angeles.

Ilyse Reisman summer in the writers’ room

An aspiring comedy writer, senior Ilyse Reisman got a chance to be on set and in meetings to pitch production ideas during her RealArts@Penn summer internship at the film studio Indigenous Media in Los Angeles.
People and Places at Penn
people and places

People and Places at Penn

In anticipation of the return to campus, undergraduates introduce their favorite spots.

Kristina García

Professors on the importance of integrating the arts into life and work
Six professors on a videoconference

A virtual discussion with Penn faculty about pursuing both their artistic and academic interests was held by the Kelly Writers House for Homecoming, featuring (left-right, top-bottom) English Professors Al Filreis, Simone White, Herman Beavers, and History Professor Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet from the School of Arts & Sciences, and Fine Arts Professors Ken Lum and Sharon Hayes from the Stuart Weitzman School of Design. 

Professors on the importance of integrating the arts into life and work

While there are some challenges, universities provide an environment for faculty to pursue both their artistic creativity and academic scholarship, said Penn professors in a Homecoming discussion led by Al Filreis of the Kelly Writers House.
‘Beauty alone’ is a reason to read Q-INE
Three blackboards in front of Claudia Cohen Hall say "I identify as..." with various descriptors written in colorful chalk (mormon, human, FGLI, queer, etc)

Untitled photography by Anthony Scarpone-Lambert.

‘Beauty alone’ is a reason to read Q-INE

A new student-run magazine highlights perspectives from the Penn LGTBQ+ community.

Kristina García