It hadn’t happened for the first time. A year after joining the literature faculty, Michael Dumanis had been bringing students from other colleges together at Bennington since 2013 for sharing poetry. “This [event] is the closest to athletics Bennington has,” he said in his welcoming remarks at the 4 x 4 x 4 poetry reading held between Bennington, Sarah Lawrence, and Williams on Friday, April 11th. The room erupted in laughter.
Historically, student readings have been held in the common room at Franklin House, located at the end of first street. And this year was no different. The Franklin door is yellow, almost glowing in between the classic Bennington shades of brown, green, and white. It welcomed all attendees. When I got to the event, the room (and even the hallway!) were already packed with students—as one expects of a reading at Bennington. There were not only Bennington students present in the crowd, but also students who came to visit all the way from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, and Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts to support their peers’ writing.
The poet Jessica M. Fisher, an Associate Professor of English at Williams College, most recently author of Daywork (Milkweed Editions, 2024) said that, “[an event like this is a] great opportunity for students to connect with each other.” Jeffrey McDaniel, an instructor of writing at Sarah Lawrence College whose poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Best American Poetry, also attended the event.
Readers from Bennington included Greer Engle-Roe ‘27, Willow Olrich ‘27, Taha Ahmar Qadeer ‘25, and Grace Schlett ‘26; from Sarah Lawrence included Saskia Gori-Montanelli, Teddy Heil, Ellis Horn, and Alex Rosenzweig; from Williams included Hannah Dineen, Jessica Jiang, Cy Karlik, and Charlotte Staudenmayer.
The readers presented their poems. Applause followed. This is how energy was maintained in the Franklin Common Room. The readings showcased craftsmanship, vulnerability and a sense of voice and perspective. Most of the poems were in conversation with domestic life, identity, grief, joy, and the strange beauty of simply being young and alive right now.
As the night came to a close, the common room held onto its warmth. Conversations followed. Laughter ensued. The reading wasn’t just an opportunity to share work; it was a reminder of the community that can be formed over sharing one’s artistic sensibilities. At Franklin, beneath its glowing yellow door, poetry became less about performance and more about connection.
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