The Narrative is a journal that started two years ago which celebrates multilingualism. It publishes poetry and prose in languages other than English side-by-side with English translations. This week, Arts & Leisure explores the publication’s future plans in an interview with co-head Mitra Kardestuncer ’20.

What is The Narrative’s mission?
The purpose of The Narrative is to showcase and promote linguistic diversity and love of poetry [in] the Hotchkiss community [by printing poems in multiple languages]. This is relevant to…anyone passionate about a non-English language.

How did you get involved with The Narrative?
The Narrative is a fairly new publication [that] started in the beginning of last year. I speak French, and I’m [currently] taking the French literature course. I have a special connection with poetry, and I decided to submit [poems] to both issues last year, one in French and another in Farsi, the Persian language.

What attracted you to The Narrative?
I’ve always been really interested in languages, but at the same time, I’ve always had a passion for creative writing and poetry. I find The Narrative the perfect amalgamation of these two interests.
It is open to everyone – students, faculty, staff, or even alumni; it welcomes writers who speak any language [at] any level. It encourages people to experiment [with] writing in a new language even though they might not be fluent, and gradually become more and more comfortable with the language.

What are some of The Narrative’s plans for this year?
The Narrative was established as a bi-annual publication and the tradition will likely be continued. There are a couple of things that we want to do to promote interest. For example, last year, there were people who spoke during a session at the chapel. They presented poetry in the language that it was written in and [an English] version. This event [was] named “Spotlight,” and we will probably [continue] it this year. In addition, during National Poetry Month, we plan to create posters and put up [poems] around the campus.