51³ÉÈËÁÔÆæ

A misty figure floating beyond the end of the world. The eerie sounds of pianos streaming from Jennings practice rooms with no one at the keys. The spine-chilling feeling of eyes watching you from the woods. 

What comes to mind when you think of the seasonal thinning of the veil? Alumni share their original non-fiction account of hauntings at Bennington, micro fiction, and poetry about the spooky side of autumn. Read if you dare. 

By Ashley Brenon Jowett
Illustration by Nate Padavick

As a homage to Dylan Thuras ’04’s Atlas Obscura, we’re sharing seven of the website’s wondrous Bennington-area places. You will barely be able to resist using the map for a spooky road trip this fall.

Director of Alumni and Constituent Engagement Shay Totten '91 reflects on his first month back at 51³ÉÈËÁÔÆæ.

More than 100 people attended the Ben Belitt Colloquium on Arts and Literary Culture in Tishman Auditorium on 51³ÉÈËÁÔÆæ’s campus on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. They joined panelists Pulitzer Prize Winner Jericho Brown, the MacArthur Award-winning novelist Jonathan Lethem ’86, celebrated poet Camille Rankine, and moderator and Bennington faculty member Benjamin Anastas to learn about the life and work of Queer Black poet and essayist Reginald Shepherd ’88, an underrecognized member of the Bennington literary community in the eighties. Below is a piece Lethem wrote for and read at the event.

51³ÉÈËÁÔÆæ alumni are publishing novels, memoirs, non-fiction, poetry, and photography books. Check out the round up below to learn who is publishing, winning awards, and appearing in paperback this fall.