Students, faculty and community members enjoyed an evening of cultural immersion and creative expression at the annual German writer-in-residence reading on Wednesday, Oct. 15.

The scent of herb and cheese-stuffed mushrooms filled the lobby of the Max Kade International House as attendees eagerly waited for the event to begin. In the front row sat Theodora Bauer, the current writer-in-residence, who taught a seven-week-long creative writing course in German, along with her students, Lauren Schuch, ’26, Mikko Horsley, ’26, and Kenzie Hughes, ’26.

Julia Ludewig, associate professor of German, greeted the busy room.

“Thank you for being here,” Ludewig said. “This is the annual highlight for the German program.”

Each year, the Max Kade Foundation — which “supports initiatives which promote international understanding by sponsoring exchange programs between Germany, Austria and the United States,” according to Max Kade Foundation, Inc. — sponsors a German-speaking writer to stay at Allegheny and teach a half-semester course, culminating in a final presentation of both the students’ and author’s work.

Ludewig described this opportunity as a way to “enable cultural exchange between northern America and German-speaking countries.” She believes that Bauer, a writer and presenter from Vienna, Austria, represents a diversity that helps students further engage with different German-speaking cultures.

The seven-week class focused on utilizing the German language to craft pieces of creative writing. Bauer, who taught a similar course at Bowling Green State University Ohio in 2022, emphasized students’ determination of what solid writing is composed of and how they could then produce it.

“We really focused a lot on what kind of texts there are, what we think constitutes a good text, and what kind of texts we ourselves would like to read as an audience,” Bauer said. “Then we try to write those texts, right, texts that we ourselves would find interesting or compelling.”

Schuch, Horsley and Hughes developed their pieces from simple ideas to expanded, long-form works, a process that Bauer appreciates the students for being “very open to going through.”

“It’s a discussion more than a class, and it’s really nice to practice German,” said Schuch about her experience in Bauer’s course. “It’s hard, but it’s very rewarding, I’d say.”

Schuch, a German minor, first found the class through a need to fill her minor requirements and saw an opportunity to expand on her current knowledge of the language in a new way.

“It’s in a language I’ve been studying for a while, and I don’t really practice writing in another language,” Schuch said. “It sounded interesting.”

Students presented their final stories to the community, one by one, reading their works in German with an English translation projected behind them.

Nadia Lowen-Webb, ’26, an attendee and friend of Schuch, found the reading to be extremely enveloping, even for non-German speakers.

“I thought it was really cool to listen to the German but be able to read in English so I could follow along,” Lowen-Webb said. “I think even if you don’t know the language, it’s still really cool to immerse yourself and experience another culture.”

Once the student readings concluded, Bauer was called to the front to introduce herself and her work, but first made sure to acknowledge the work of Schuch, Horsley and Hughes.

“I’m proud of you guys for going out of your comfort zones,” she said.

Describing the reading as “the crown jewel of (her) stay,” Bauer thanked the audience for their attendance and read an excerpt from her novel, “Glühen,” or “Glowing,” following the same pattern of German voice and English print translation. After the reading, attendees were welcomed to German hors d’oeuvres and a chance to ask Bauer questions about her work.

“Glühen” was written during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and was “a reaction to feeling very isolated and in solitude,” questioning the shared reality of humans during the unprecedented time, Bauer said. She also tied in themes of climate change and women’s representation in literature.

Bauer has been writing professionally for over ten years, with her first novel debuting in 2014. Throughout this time, she has learned the importance of giving productive feedback and handling criticism, something that she wanted to emphasize through the course.

“What I really hope that people can take away from it…is how to give and receive feedback,” she said. “So much about growing professionally and personally is about handling criticism.”
Through only half of a semester, Bauer was able to fully dive into the writing process with her students and give them the opportunity to explore a new creative outlet.

“I enjoyed this course, I’m very happy it went as I had planned,” Bauer said. “I had hoped that people were wanting to come out of their shell and do some creative writing, and I’m very happy that that happened.”