Words that lead us into mystery

Sigma Tau Delta and meeting poets

From Carl Phillips’ poem “Civilization,” published in Then the War (2023).

“You can’t grow if you don’t take risks.”

Last month was my first experience with the national Sigma Tau Delta conference, but hardly my first rodeo with academic conferences. The primary Sigma attendees are English majors and other members of the English honor society — which was celebrating its 100th anniversary this year — and their advisors and professors.

Me? I’m an alumni, designated by the gray sticker on my badge. I am not going to examine how “gray” might not be the moniker I wanted attached to me, but most of the other alumni are significantly younger than I am, so I guess they weren’t bothered. I continue to volunteer with the university’s Sigma chapter, of which I was president last year, but I am not officially an advisor and am not teaching this semester.

Therefore I wasn’t sure how useful STD would be for me (and save the dirty jokes, we have heard every. single. one. and perpetuated more than a few of them ourselves.) But it was held in St. Louis this year, so with the lack of travel costs, it seemed a no-brainer to give it a trial run and see how useful it would be professionally and creatively.