Going Viral: A Workshop and Reading by Joe Osmundson
October 3rd, 2022
Osmundson leads into a prompt.
Coverage by Amara Sorosiak ‘23
The Rose O’Neill Literary House, in conjunction with Smith College and Bucknell University as part of the Small Liberal Arts College Coalition, welcomed their respective student bodies to join Joseph Osmundson on Zoom for a virtual generative workshop. Joseph Osmundson is a scientist, poet, and essayist. He recently published Virology: Essays for the Living, the Dead, and the Small Things in Between, and currently teaches Biology at New York University. Osmundson’s work blends poetics with biological processes, with his work focusing on viruses such as COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS and their social consequences in connection to queer theory. In between talking about his own writing process for the book and beyond, he offered prompts to attendees as writing exercises, such as a haiku that could be said in one breath, or looking at physical intimacy through the lens of biological processes. Professor Osmundson takes two seemingly unrelated disciplines and harmonizes them for English students, STEM students, and all writers alike, allowing everyone to enjoy his writing.
Matt Donovan, Director of The Boutelle-Day Poetry Center at Smith College, introduces Professor Osmundson.