The
Muse
The Literary & Arts Magazine of
Welcome to the first issue of The Muse.
Perhaps the extraordinary image of “Eve” on the cover, painted by our own
Professor of Art Yifei Gan,
invited you in. In these pages you’ll
find a resonant, varied collection of
The Muse is not the first HCC literary journal.
In the past, we had Ink on Paper and The Iron Horse, but
then nothing for several years. When
William Lowe joined our English faculty full time in Fall
2002, one of his first proposals was to revive the tradition. He managed to organize the process within a
remarkably short time, with the help and enthusiasm of professors Mark Grimes,
Lee Hartman, and Patricia VanAmburg, and with my
wholehearted support as division chair.
We are all delighted to be able to publish the talent of our HCC
students and colleagues in the same spring semester that also brought, through
the dedicated efforts of President Mary Ellen Duncan, the beautiful new
instructional laboratory building with its wide and sunlit spaces. The building’s
hallways will soon be decorated with some of the poetry published here.
A collection like this is not simply a showcase.
It resumes a wonderful conversation about who we are and what we imagine, and
it extends that conversation beyond the classroom into the community. I hope
you enjoy what you find. Let us know.
Tara Hart
Chair, English & Foreign Languages
Division