Amid a controversial election season and several ongoing global conflicts, it has been a contentious year for college campuses in the United States. In an attempt to navigate these challenges, author Mónica Guzmán and President Danielle R. Holley delved into some of the issues that divide college students and American culture at large during the 2024 Common Read Talk on Nov. 19, focusing on political partisanship.

Sally Rooney released her latest novel, “Intermezzo,” on Tuesday, Sept. 24. In celebration, the Odyssey Bookshop held a launch event for those who preordered the book. Along with the novel, readers were treated to refreshments, themed collectible items and a raffle for a larger giveaway.

The 2024-25 academic year marks the tenth anniversary of transgender and gender-nonconforming inclusive admissions at Mount Holyoke College. In celebration, a number of events dedicated to the trans, gender-nonconforming and nonbinary community are happening around campus under the name TGNC10. Also held on campus this semester is a class on transgender literature taught by Visiting Assistant Lecturer in English Dr. Jude Hayward-Jansen. Although Hayward-Jansen’s class was not created with TGNC10 in mind, its course goals are in line with the project’s mission: uplifting trans voices and celebrating trans stories. 

In the coming weeks, the Odyssey Bookshop will host numerous literary events open to the public. With five in-person author appearances, two storytime events, an on-campus talk at Mount Holyoke, a book club, and a book launch party, there are plenty of events for readers of all sorts to enjoy.

In June 2023, author Katharine Beutner published “Killingly,” a historical fiction novel set at Mount Holyoke College based on the real-life disappearance of Bertha Mellish in 1867. Mount Holyoke News has previously interviewed Beutner, and the author signed books at The Odyssey Bookshop during Reunion last year.

Author and activist Schuyler Bailar has answers to your questions about gender. With anti-trans bills proposed by legislators across the United States, discussions of gender identity are at the forefront of politics today. Bailar’s debut nonfiction, “He/She/They: How We Talk About Gender and Why It Matters,” breaks down society’s views on the topic and its importance to the present and the future.

Every year, Mount Holyoke College hosts an event to celebrate student poetry. “It's so exciting to get to share my work, and to meet all these great people from different universities and hear everyone's work,” Mount Holyoke contestant Aderet Fishbane ’25, said, speaking about the College’s 101st Annual Glascock Poetry Competition. 

Glascock is traditionally composed of three events. The first event, on the afternoon of Friday the 29th, was a conversation with the judges of the contest: Jennifer Tamayo, Samuel Ace and Margaret Rhee, all poets and authors themselves. Attendees gathered in the Stimson Room on the sixth floor of the Williston Memorial Library to listen to the poets discuss topics ranging from the role of transformation in the judges’ work, their work with other media in connection to their poetry and to understand how they seek out community. 

Young adult author Alice Oseman has officially published their sophomore novel, “Radio Silence,” in the United States. The book is the last of their works to be released outside of the United Kingdom.